(Entertainment-NewsWire.com, July 20, 2013 ) San Francisco, CA -- A new research study conducted by neuroscientists and molecular biologists at USC University has shown that a missing brain protein may be the cause in individuals with severe over-worry and feelings of fear for no apparent reason. The results of the study were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of July 15, 2013. The senior author of the publication was Jean C. Shih, USC University Professor.
Researchers at the university examined mice that were missing the two enzymes, monoamine oxidase A and B (MAO A/B). These two enzymes sit next to each other in the genetic code of humans as well as mice. In a previous study by these researchers, an association was found between developmental disabilities along the autism spectrum and deficiencies of these enzymes in humans. These disabilities included clinical perseverance or the inability to regulate actions in the social context. "These mice may serve as an interesting model to develop interventions to these neuropsychiatric disorders," said Shih. "The severity of the changes in the MAO A/B knockout mice compared to MAO A knockout mice supports the idea that the severity of autistic-like features may be correlated to the amounts of monoamine levels, particularly at early developmental stages."
Shih and her co-investigators are world leaders in understanding behaviors such as anxiety and aggression as well as the biochemical and neurobiological mechanisms behind them. In the latest investigation, her team has expanded their previous research on MAO A/B. These two enzymes regulate neurotransmitters known as monoamines such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. They compared mice missing MAO A/B with their normal littermates and found significant differences in how the former processed fear and other forms of learning.
The mice were put into a neutral environment and given a mild electric shock. The next time they were put into the same environment the MAO A/B knockout mice demonstrated a larger degree of fear than their siblings did. However, when the mice were put into a different neutral environment, the normal mice explored this environment freely while the MAO A/B knockout mice generalized their phobia – their fear carried over to the new environment where there was nothing to fear. "The neural substrates processing fear in the brain is very different in these mice," Singh concluded. "Enhanced learning in the wrong context is a disorder and is exemplified by these mice. Their brain is not letting them forget. In a survival issue, you need to be able to forget things."
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