New Brain Target Identified to Treat Anxiety Disorders: Study Reveals | Health news

New Delhi: Mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders, autism and schizophrenia are among the leading health disorders worldwide. Scientists now report a new brain target for the potential future treatment of anxiety disorders.

Scientists at the University of Montreal and its affiliated Institute for Clinical Research in Montreal (IRCM) have discovered unique roles for a protein complex in the function of brain cell connectivity, as well as in specific cognitive behaviors.

The new findings, published in The EMBO Journal, could provide valuable therapeutic insights, say researchers led by Hideto Takahashi in collaboration with Steven Connor’s team at the University of York and Masanori Tachikawa’s team at the University of Japan’s Tokushima.

The junctions between two brain cells (neurons) are called synapses, which are essential for neuronal signal transmission and brain functions.

Defects in excitatory synapses, which activate signal transmission to target neurons, and defects in synaptic molecules predispose to many mental illnesses.

Although defects in synapse organization are linked to many neuropsychiatric conditions, the mechanisms responsible for this organization were poorly understood.

Takahashi’s team has previously discovered a new protein complex within the synaptic junction that is found only at excitatory synapses.

The genes encoding these synapses are associated with anxiety disorders and autism, respectively.

The work in the new study showed that this particular protein complex regulates the structural and functional maturation of excitatory synapses by regulating the phosphorylation, a biochemical modification of proteins, of many synaptic proteins, while disruption of this complex causes specific behavioral defects in mice.

High-resolution imaging of the brains of the mutant mice revealed abnormal synapse organization, and further study of their signaling properties showed an increase in inactive synapses with defects in signal transmission.

Observing the behavior of the mutant mice, the scientists saw that they exhibited elevated levels of anxiety, particularly enhanced avoidance in unfamiliar conditions and impaired social behaviors.