Scientists have identified a specific brain circuit that appears to play a major role in anxiety, depression-like behaviors, and social withdrawal. Even more striking, they found that restoring balance within this circuit was enough to reverse several of these behaviors in mice.
The research was led by Juan Lerma and his team at the Synaptic Physiology laboratory at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche. Their findings were published in iScience.
A Key Brain Region Linked to Emotional Disorders
The study focused on the amygdala, a region of the brain that helps regulate emotions such as fear and anxiety. Researchers discovered that a particular group of neurons within this area can have a powerful influence on emotional and social behavior.
"We already knew the amygdala was involved in anxiety and fear, but now we've identified a specific population of neurons whose imbalanced activity alone is sufficient to trigger pathological behaviors," explains Lerma.
