Found in the brain switch "anti-anxiety" 
Si trova nell’area del cervello della paura
Un “click” nel cervello per spegnere l’ansia. Un team di ricercatori americani ha infatti scoperto che basta stimolare un particolare circuito cerebrale per spegnere l’ansia. Un interruttore che, un po’ a sorpresa, si trova proprio all’interno di una struttura del cervello associata con la paura.
La ricerca della Stanford University School of Medicine (Usa) è pubblicata online su Nature . Nello studio Karl Deisseroth e i suoi colleghi hanno impiegato un modello animale (topo) per dimostrare che stimolare l’attività in this circuit increases the propensity of animals to take risks, while inhibiting these suddenly become much more cautious.
According to the magazine, this circuit could become the target of a new class of anti-anxiety drugs with opposite mechanism of action of drugs in use today.
It is estimated that over one in four people living an anxiety disorder at least once in their life: he acquires a more lasting anxiety disorder usually helped with anxiety but have many side effects including addiction and sedation. They act, in fact, inhibiting the "neurons anxiety "in the brain. But what if you could cure anxiety by activating a circuit anti-anxiety naturally present in our heads? This is made concrete with the chance discovery of the group Deisseroth. By optogenetica scientists have sifted through the neurons of the amygdala and found a small group of neurons that inhibit anxiety. Making photo-sensitive neurons, the researchers bombarded with flashes of light and saw that when they turn on the anxiety and anxious behavior in mice is reduced, conversely, if off anti-anxiety neurons, the mice show themselves as eager presence of an imminent danger.
This discovery could lead to new treatments for anxiety disorders, Deisseroth explains. "Anxiety is a common but little-known psychiatric illness," says Deisseroth more than one in four people in the course of life, is to deal with symptoms of anxiety.
"The discovery of a new brain circuit whose action is to reduce anxiety could lead to a new treatment strategy," says the scholar. Ironically, the switch just discovered lies within a structure of the brain, the amygdala, known to be associated with fear. In general, in fact, stimulating the nervous activity of the amygdala are increasing anxiety and fear.
SOURCE: lastampa.it
