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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News Daily Digest (Unofficial)</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/insecure-attachment-to-fathers-linked-to-increased-mental-health-issues-and-alcohol-use/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Insecure attachment to fathers linked to increased mental health issues and alcohol use</a>
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<p><p>A longitudinal study in the U.S. found that adolescents with less secure attachment to their fathers tend to have higher levels of both internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms. More severe externalizing symptoms were associated with more frequent alcohol consumption 1-2 years later. Emotional attachment to their mothers was not associated with these symptoms. The research was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13539"><em>Developmental Science</em></a>.</p>
<p>Emotional attachment is a deep, enduring bond that forms between individuals, characterized by feelings of affection, security, and a strong desire for closeness. It is a fundamental aspect of human relationships, beginning in early childhood with caregivers and extending to friendships, romantic partnerships, and even pets. Emotional attachment provides a sense of stability and support, helping individuals cope with stress and navigate life’s challenges. Secure attachments foster healthy development, emotional well-being, and social functioning, while insecure attachment can lead to difficulties in relationships and emotional regulation.</p>
<p>Previous studies have established a link between mental health and emotional attachment. Insecure emotional attachment is thought to give rise to both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Internalizing symptoms are emotional and behavioral issues directed inward, such as anxiety, depression, and withdrawal. Externalizing symptoms involve behaviors directed outward, toward other people and the environment, including aggressive behavior, hyperactivity, and conduct problems.</p>
<p>Adolescence is a key period for the emergence of both types of mental health issues. For many individuals, this is the time when these problems first appear. Study author Claudia Clinchard and her colleagues sought to explore how the link between insecure attachment and mental health develops as children grow up. They were also interested in how substance use fits into the interplay of these factors. They questioned whether attachment insecurity directly leads to substance use (e.g., alcoholism), which, in turn, exacerbates mental health symptoms, or if mental health symptoms lead to substance use.</p>
<p>The study involved 167 adolescents and one of their caregivers, recruited from a southeastern state in the U.S. The adolescents were 13-14 years old at the start of the study, which followed them for five years, until they were 18-20 years old. Forty-seven percent of the participants were girls, and 78% identified as white. Seventy-eight percent of the participating caregivers were mothers.</p>
<p>Study participants answered questionnaires at five different time points over five years. At the first two time points, participants completed assessments of their attachments to their mothers and fathers separately, using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. At time points three and four, participants completed assessments of internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms using the Youth Self-Report. Finally, at the last time point, participants rated how often they drank alcohol.</p>
<p>Results showed that adolescents with more secure attachment to their mothers tended to also have more secure attachment to their fathers. Those with less secure attachment to their fathers tended to have more mental health symptoms, both internalizing and externalizing. Attachment to mothers was not associated with these symptoms. Additionally, girls tended to have more pronounced internalizing symptoms.</p>
<p>Alcohol use was associated with externalizing symptoms—adolescents with more externalizing symptoms tended to drink alcohol more often. However, aside from the influence of externalizing symptoms, there was no direct link between emotional attachment to either parent and alcohol use. This suggests that insecure attachment to fathers likely increases the risk of alcohol use by adolescents by increasing their risk of developing mental health symptoms, particularly of the externalizing type.</p>
<p>“Our findings highlight the significance of the adolescent–father relationship in a developmental cascading pathway, wherein adolescent–father attachment during middle adolescence plays a critical role in the development of externalizing symptoms in late adolescence, and, in turn, predicts subsequent alcohol use during the transition to young adulthood,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>“The findings from the current study support the theoretical perspective that emphasizes the importance of social relationship factors in substance use disorders by illustrating that insecure adolescent–father attachment sets the stage for the developmental cascade into more externalizing symptoms and more alcohol use.”</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the likely effects of child-father attachment, particularly in early adolescence, on mental health symptoms later in life. However, all studied factors were assessed using self-reports, which could introduce reporting bias. Studies examining these relationships using data from multiple informants might yield different results.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13539">Longitudinal links from attachment with mothers and fathers to adolescent substance use: Internalizing and externalizing pathways,</a>” was authored by Claudia Clinchard, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Brooks Casas, and Jungmeen Kim-Spoon.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/how-a-woman-dresses-affects-how-other-women-view-her-male-friendships-study-suggests/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">How a woman dresses affects how other women view her male friendships, study suggests</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 25th 2024, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>When it comes to friendships between men and women, many people hold the belief that there’s always a potential for something more than just friendship. But how does this belief change when the woman in the friendship dresses or behaves more like “one of the guys” rather than someone who might be a romantic rival?</p>
<p>A recent study published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2024.112786"><em>Personality and Individual Differences</em></a> explored this intriguing question, revealing that women who prefer male friends are generally perceived by other women as less trustworthy, more sexually promiscuous, and greater threats to romantic relationships. However, these perceptions might shift depending on how the woman presents herself.</p>
<p>Friendships between men and women (cross-sex friendships) have long been subjects of suspicion. <a href="https://www.psypost.org/women-who-prefer-male-friends-are-viewed-negatively-by-their-female-peers-study-finds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Previous research has shown</a> that women who prefer male friends are often viewed as less trustworthy and more sexually promiscuous, which can lead to social aggression and ostracism from other women. However, researchers had not explored how a woman’s gender expression — how masculine or feminine she appears — affects these perceptions.</p>
<p>“My interest in this topic came from my undergraduate mentor, now colleague, Dr. Hannah Bradshaw, who had <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111301" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently published work on this topic</a>,” explained study author Julia Hurwitz, an experimental psychology PhD student at Oklahoma State University and member of the Oklahoma Center for Evolutionary Analysis (OCEAN).</p>
<p>“I had just joined her lab as an undergraduate research assistant where she had us read her paper as an assignment. When we met during our lab meeting, I asked her if she had ever thought of manipulating the gender expression of the target (the ‘guys’ girl’) and seeing how this influences women’s perceptions of other women who prefer men as friends. I was thinking that women with more masculine interests might be characterized as less threatening than feminine women, and thus might be seen as ‘one of the guys’ over a potential mating threat.”</p>
<p>To explore how gender expression impacts the perception of women who prefer cross-sex versus same-sex friendships, the researchers conducted three separate experiments, each focusing on different aspects of gender expression. Across all experiments, heterosexual women were asked to evaluate female targets based on manipulated profiles or images. Each target was described as either preferring male or female friends.</p>
<p>Study 1 focused on interests and hobbies. The researchers created social media profiles for a fictional female college student and manipulated her gender expression by assigning her either masculine or feminine hobbies and career aspirations. For example, the “masculine” profile might feature interests like sports and a career goal of becoming an engineer, while the “feminine” profile might include hobbies like dancing and a goal of becoming an elementary school teacher.</p>
<p>Study 2 shifted the focus to clothing. Participants were shown social media posts of the same fictional woman preparing for a wedding. The key difference was in what she planned to wear: a masculine suit or a feminine dress. Study 3 examined facial characteristics. The researchers used images of the woman’s face that were digitally altered to appear more masculine or feminine.</p>
<p>In all three studies, the participants were asked to evaluate the target’s trustworthiness, perceived sexual promiscuity, sexual orientation, masculinity/femininity, and their own likelihood of mate guarding behaviors — actions taken to protect a romantic relationship from potential rivals (e.g., “How likely would you be to introduce the target to your boyfriend?”).</p>
<p>Across all three studies, the researchers found consistent evidence that women who prefer male friends are generally viewed more negatively by other women. Specifically, women who had more male friends were perceived as less trustworthy, more sexually promiscuous, and more of a threat to other women’s romantic relationships. These findings support previous research that suggests women who prefer male friends often face social aggression from other women.</p>
<p>However, the impact of gender expression on these perceptions was more complex. In Study 1, where gender expression was manipulated through interests and hobbies, the researchers found that while participants did recognize the masculine or feminine nature of the profiles, this did not significantly change their overall perceptions of the woman’s trustworthiness or sexual promiscuity.</p>
<p>Study 2, which focused on clothing, provided the most compelling evidence that gender expression can moderate negative perceptions. Women who dressed in a masculine way were seen as more trustworthy and less sexually promiscuous than those who dressed in a feminine way, especially if they preferred male friends.</p>
<p>In Study 3, which looked at facial characteristics, the results were less clear. While masculine faces were recognized as more masculine, this did not significantly change the participants’ perceptions of trustworthiness, sexual promiscuity, or mate guarding behaviors. The researchers speculated that the subtlety of the facial changes might not have been enough to elicit strong reactions from the participants.</p>
<p>Interestingly, in the first and second studies, women who presented themselves in a more masculine way were also more likely to be perceived as homosexual. This perception might explain why these women (in Study 2) were seen as less of a romantic threat — if other women assume a masculine-presenting woman is not interested in men, they may feel less need to guard their romantic partners from her.</p>
<p>“Overall, the findings suggest that women tend to dislike other women who prefer male friends regardless of gender expression. However, there is one caveat to this. Sometimes, when women present themselves masculinely (i.e., through clothing like in Study 2), same-sex attraction is inferred. This inferred same-sex attraction may explain why women appear less wary of masculine ‘guys’ girls’ preferring male friends.”</p>
<p>However, as with all research, this study has its limitations, which open the door for further exploration. One caveat is that the researchers did not consider the participants’ own friendship preferences or how they perceive their own gender expression. This is important because women who themselves prefer male friends might perceive the targets differently than those who favor female friendships. Exploring these individual differences could provide deeper insights into how personal experiences shape perceptions of others in social contexts.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886924002460">One of the guys: Are masculine women less of a mating threat?</a>“, was authored by Julia F. Hurwitz and Hannah K. Bradshaw.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/high-intensity-interval-training-boosts-cognitive-function-with-effects-lasting-up-to-five-years/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">High-intensity interval training boosts cognitive function, with effects lasting up to five years</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 25th 2024, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>High-intensity exercise isn’t just good for your muscles — it might also be the key to keeping your brain sharp as you age. A new study from the University of Queensland has found that older adults who engage in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can boost their cognitive function, and what’s more, these benefits can last for up to five years. The study, published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.14336/AD.2024.0642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aging and Disease</a></em>, is one of the first to show that exercise doesn’t merely delay cognitive decline — it can actively improve cognitive performance in healthy older adults.</p>
<p>Led by Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett and Daniel Blackmore from the Queensland Brain Institute, the study involved participants aged 65 to 85 who undertook a carefully controlled exercise regimen. After six months of HIIT, these participants showed improvements in brain function, which were maintained for years afterward. As Bartlett put it, “Six months of high-intensity interval training is enough to flick the switch.”</p>
<p>Aging comes with a natural decline in many aspects of our health, and cognitive function is no exception. With over 130 million people worldwide predicted to suffer from dementia by 2050, finding ways to delay, slow, or even reverse age-related cognitive decline is crucial. Current research suggests that lifestyle factors, particularly physical activity, could play a significant role in maintaining cognitive health.</p>
<p>While many studies have focused on preventing cognitive decline, the University of Queensland researchers wanted to explore whether exercise could actively improve cognitive function in older adults who are still healthy. They were particularly interested in how different intensities of exercise might impact the brain’s structure and function.</p>
<p>The researchers implemented a rigorous six-year study involving 194 participants aged between 65 and 85. These participants were randomly assigned to one of three exercise groups: low-intensity training, moderate-intensity training, or HIIT.</p>
<p>The study’s exercise regimen was structured so that participants in the HIIT group engaged in short bursts of intense exercise, reaching 85-95% of their peak heart rate, followed by periods of lower intensity recovery, three times a week for six months. This was contrasted with continuous, less intense exercise in the moderate-intensity training group and even gentler exercises in the low-intensity group.</p>
<p>To measure cognitive changes, the researchers used a battery of tests, administered monthly, that were designed to assess various aspects of brain function, with a particular emphasis on the hippocampus-dependent task known as paired associated learning (PAL). This task is a robust measure of spatial memory, which tends to decline with age.</p>
<p>In addition to cognitive testing, the researchers performed brain scans on a subset of participants before and after the exercise intervention, as well as six months later, to observe any changes in brain structure, particularly in the hippocampus. Monthly blood samples were also collected to analyze changes in biomarkers that could be associated with cognitive function.</p>
<p>The HIIT group showed improvements in the PAL task, indicating enhanced hippocampal function. These improvements were also long-lasting, with the HIIT group retaining their cognitive gains for up to five years after the initial six-month exercise intervention. In contrast, the groups engaged in lower-intensity exercises did not exhibit the same level of cognitive improvement, suggesting that the intensity of the exercise played a key role in driving these benefits.</p>
<p>“In earlier pre-clinical work, we discovered exercise can activate stem cells and increase the production of neurons in the hippocampus, improving cognition,” Bartlett explained. “In this study, a large cohort of healthy 65 – 85-year-old volunteers joined a six-month exercise program, did biomarker and cognition testing and had high-resolution brain scans. We followed up with them 5 years after the program and incredibly they still had improved cognition, even if they hadn’t kept up with the exercises.”</p>
<p>In addition to cognitive enhancements, the HIIT group also demonstrated a stabilization of hippocampal volume. This is particularly noteworthy as the hippocampus is known to shrink with age, a process associated with cognitive decline. The researchers found that while participants in the lower-intensity exercise groups experienced a decrease in hippocampal volume over time, those in the HIIT group did not, suggesting that high-intensity exercise might help protect this region of the brain from age-related atrophy.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the study revealed that HIIT also led to increased functional connectivity between different brain networks. This was particularly evident in networks associated with attention and motor function, which were strengthened in the HIIT group. These changes in brain connectivity were linked to the observed improvements in cognitive function, providing a potential explanation for how HIIT might be enhancing brain health in older adults.</p>
<p>“On high-resolution MRI scans of that group, we saw structural and connectivity changes in the hippocampus, the area responsible for learning and memory,” Blackmore said. “We also found blood biomarkers that changed in correlation to improvements in cognition. Biomarkers can be useful in predicting the effectiveness of the exercise a person is doing.”</p>
<p>While the study provides compelling evidence that high-intensity interval training can benefit cognitive function in older adults, it also has limitations. One of the main limitations is that the study only included healthy older adults who were capable of participating in a demanding exercise regimen. This raises the question of whether similar benefits would be observed in older adults who are less physically fit or who have pre-existing health conditions.</p>
<p>Future research could explore these questions by including a broader range of participants and comparing different types of exercise. The researchers also suggested that further studies should investigate the underlying mechanisms of these cognitive improvements, particularly the role of biomarkers such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cortisol, both of which were found to be linked to cognitive performance in the HIIT group.</p>
<p>“Our finding can inform exercise guidelines for older people and further research could assess different types of exercise that could be incorporated into aged care,” Blackmore said. “We are now looking at the genetic factors that may regulate a person’s response to exercise to see if we can establish who will and who will not respond to this intervention. The use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool for exercise also needs further research.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://www.aginganddisease.org/EN/10.14336/AD.2024.0642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Long-Term Improvement in Hippocampal-Dependent Learning Ability in Healthy, Aged Individuals Following High-Intensity Interval Training</a>,” was authored by Daniel G. Blackmore, Mia A. Schaumberg, Maryam Ziaei, Samuel Belford, Xuan Vinh To, Imogen O’Keeffe, Anne Bernard, Jules Mitchell, Emily Hume, Grace L. Rose, Thomas Shaw, Ashley York, Markus Barth, Elizabeth J. Cooper, Tina L. Skinner, Fatima Nasrallah, Stephan Riek, and Perry F. Bartlett.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/declining-senses-in-older-adults-linked-to-loneliness-and-mental-health-challenges/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Declining senses in older adults linked to loneliness and mental health challenges</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 24th 2024, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>As we age, our senses gradually decline, leading to challenges that go beyond simple inconveniences. Many older adults find themselves struggling to see clearly, hear conversations, or even smell familiar scents. New research suggests these sensory declines can impact mental health. The study, led by researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine and published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.19056" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of the American Geriatrics Society</a></em>, found that that older adults with sensory disabilities tend to experience worse mental health outcomes.</p>
<p>The motivation behind this study stems from a growing concern about the aging population and the challenges they face. The World Health Organization estimates that the global population over the age of 60 will nearly double by 2050. In the United States, almost all older adults experience some form of sensory impairment, with about 67% facing difficulties in two or more senses. Despite the prevalence of these issues, the relationship between sensory disabilities and mental health in older adults has not been thoroughly explored, especially in the U.S. context.</p>
<p>The research team, led by Dr. Jayant Pinto, an expert in olfactory dysfunction, and Alexander Wang, a medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, aimed to fill this gap. They sought to understand how sensory impairments in hearing, vision, and smell might contribute to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and loneliness.</p>
<p>To examine the relationship between sensory impairments and mental health, the researchers utilized data from the <a href="https://www.norc.org/research/projects/national-social-life-health-and-aging-project.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP)</a>, a nationally representative, longitudinal study of older U.S. adults. This data set is particularly valuable because it includes detailed information on sensory function and mental health over a period of up to ten years, allowing the researchers to track changes and outcomes over time.</p>
<p>The study focused on three types of sensory disabilities: hearing, vision, and olfaction (the sense of smell). Sensory function was assessed during multiple rounds of data collection, with trained interviewers rating participants’ hearing and vision on a scale from “practically deaf/blind” to “normal,” and using a validated odor identification test to assess olfaction. These assessments were used to categorize participants as having a sensory disability if their function was below a certain threshold.</p>
<p>Mental health outcomes were measured using a variety of validated tools, including self-rated mental health, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, anxiety, and loneliness. These measures provided a comprehensive overview of participants’ mental health, allowing the researchers to examine the associations between sensory disabilities and specific mental health issues.</p>
<p>The researchers also took into account several other factors that could influence mental health, such as age, gender, race and ethnicity, education level, marital status, alcohol use, smoking habits, and overall physical health. By controlling for these variables, they aimed to isolate the impact of sensory disabilities on mental health.</p>
<p>As expected, older adults with a greater number of sensory disabilities were more likely to report worse mental health outcomes. However, the type of sensory disability also played a significant role in determining which specific mental health issues were more likely to arise.</p>
<p>For example, vision disability was strongly associated with lower self-rated mental health and increased feelings of loneliness. This finding suggests that the inability to see clearly may lead to social isolation and a decrease in overall life satisfaction. On the other hand, hearing disability, while not as strongly linked to specific mental health conditions in this study, showed a trend toward being associated with lower self-rated mental health and loneliness.</p>
<p>Interestingly, olfactory disability was not significantly associated with any particular mental health outcome, although previous research has suggested a link between loss of smell and symptoms of depression and anxiety. The researchers speculated that the “invisible” nature of olfactory disability—being less noticeable to others—might contribute to its weaker association with mental health outcomes compared to hearing and vision disabilities.</p>
<p>“We saw that hearing and vision disability tended to be associated with lower self-rated mental health and feelings of loneliness, but olfactory disability had a weaker association,” Wang said. “This stood out to me because hearing and vision disabilities tend to be much more stigmatized than olfactory disability. This made me reflect on the ways in which social stigma may be driving this worse mental health.”</p>
<p>One notable finding was that while sensory impairments were linked to self-rated mental health and loneliness, they did not significantly increase the risk of depressive symptoms, perceived stress, or anxiety when considered in isolation. However, when participants had multiple sensory impairments, the risk of developing depressive symptoms increased, highlighting the cumulative effect of sensory losses on mental health.</p>
<p>“When your senses decline, you can’t experience the world as well,” Pinto said. “You can’t hear colleagues or friends at the dinner table; you can’t discern what’s going on in your environment; you may have a hard time reading or making things out when you’re in your neighborhood. It makes all your cognitive burdens a little harder, and that probably wears you down over time and causes mental health problems.”</p>
<p>While this study provides insights into the relationship between sensory disabilities and mental health in older adults, it is not without limitations. One significant limitation is the reliance on subjective assessments of hearing and vision, which might not capture subtle changes in sensory function as accurately as objective measures would. Additionally, the study did not include data on when participants first experienced sensory impairments, which could influence how these disabilities impact mental health over time.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jgs.19056" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Types of sensory disability are differentially associated with mental health in older US adults over time</a>,” was authored by Alexander Z. Wang, Kristen E. Wroblewski, Louise Hawkley, and Jayant M. Pinto.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/brains-threat-detector-uncovered-new-study-reveals-neural-circuit-for-identifying-and-remembering-threats/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Brain’s ‘threat detector’ uncovered: New study reveals neural circuit for identifying and remembering threats</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 24th 2024, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>Imagine a mouse, tentatively exploring its surroundings, its senses alert to any sign of danger. In one part of its environment, the mouse has experienced something deeply unpleasant—a mild but startling shock. As it roams, it pauses near the spot where the shock occurred, its behavior changing noticeably. It stretches out, sniffs the air, and hesitates to step back into the area where it was hurt. What’s happening in the mouse’s brain during these moments of heightened awareness? And how does it remember where the danger lies, ensuring it avoids a repeat encounter?</p>
<p>A recent study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.006" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Current Biology</a></em> provides some answers. Researchers have mapped a brain circuit responsible not only for detecting immediate threats but also for creating lasting memories of those threats. These findings could help us better understand how animals—and by extension, humans—process fear and protect themselves from danger.</p>
<p>The study was led by Newton Sabino Canteras, a professor in the Department of Anatomy at the University of São Paulo’s Biomedical Sciences Institute in Brazil. The research team set out to identify the brain regions involved in signaling fear and how these regions help animals recognize environments associated with physical or predatory threats. The idea was to understand how the brain encodes memories of these dangerous locations, ensuring that the animal can avoid them in the future.</p>
<p>“We were interested in locating a brain region associated with fear signaling and finding out how it could identify environments previously related to physical or predatory threats, such as a place where the individual underwent an aversive physical stimulus,” Canteras said.</p>
<p>In the wild, animals must constantly navigate a world full of potential threats. They need to detect danger, respond defensively, and remember where these dangers are so they can avoid them in the future. This ability to learn from past experiences is crucial for survival. For example, if an animal encounters a predator in a certain area, it’s vital that it remembers to steer clear of that location in the future.</p>
<p>Previous studies have used fear conditioning in animals—essentially training them to associate a specific environment with an unpleasant stimulus, such as a mild electric shock. However, these studies typically confined the animals to a small chamber where they had no choice but to face the threat. This setup doesn’t fully replicate real-life situations, where animals are free to move and can choose to avoid danger. The researchers wanted to explore how animals behave when they have the freedom to escape a dangerous environment and what brain circuits are involved in this process.</p>
<p>In the new study, the experiments were conducted in an apparatus that consisted of a “safe” cage connected to a “conditioning” cage. The conditioning cage was where the mice received mild foot shocks, simulating a threatening environment. The mice were given the freedom to explore the entire apparatus, mimicking more natural conditions where animals encounter and avoid threats in their environment.</p>
<p>This setup enabled the researchers to compare the behavior and brain activity of mice confined to the conditioning cage with those that were free to explore, thereby identifying the brain circuits involved in detecting threats and forming fear memories.</p>
<p>To observe and manipulate brain activity, the researchers used fiber photometry, a technique that measures neural activity in specific brain regions by detecting changes in fluorescence from calcium-sensitive indicators. They focused on the dorsal premammillary nucleus (PMd), a brain region implicated in threat detection.</p>
<p>One of the study’s key findings was that the PMd acts as a critical “threat detector.” When a mouse approached the area where it had previously received shocks, the PMd became highly active. This activity dropped when the mouse moved away from the dangerous area or turned its back on it.</p>
<p>“It’s a very clear threat detector and interacts dynamically with the source. If the mouse turns its back on the source, the PMd isn’t activated, but if it looks at the source or moves close to it, the PMd ‘sounds the alarm,'” Canteras explained.</p>
<p>To further investigate the PMd’s role, the researchers employed chemogenetic silencing, a technique where specific receptors in the PMd were inactivated by introducing a virus and administering a particular drug. When the PMd was silenced, the mice’s behavior changed dramatically. Instead of avoiding the shock-associated box, the mice entered it without hesitation, as if they no longer perceived it as dangerous. This finding suggested that the PMd is not only crucial for detecting threats but also essential for forming memories of those threats.</p>
<p>The researchers also explored how the PMd interacts with other parts of the brain, particularly the septo-hippocampal-hypothalamic circuit, which integrates environmental information, and the periaqueductal gray (PAG) in the brainstem and the ventral anteromedial thalamus (AMv) in the thalamus, regions known for their roles in processing fear and coordinating defensive responses. By using optogenetic silencing, which involves inactivating specific neural pathways with light, they selectively targeted the pathways from the PMd to these two areas.</p>
<p>Interestingly, inactivating the pathway to the PAG reduced the mouse’s immediate defensive behavior—it was less likely to avoid the shock-associated box—but didn’t seem to affect its long-term fear memory. This suggests that the PMd>PAG pathway is primarily involved in organizing immediate defensive behaviors, such as freezing or fleeing, which are critical for survival in the face of imminent danger.</p>
<p>On the other hand, inactivating the pathway to the AMv didn’t change the mouse’s behavior right away but significantly impacted its fear memory. The mice seemed to “forget” that the box was dangerous, showing that this pathway plays a key role in consolidating fear memories. This distinction underscores that while the PMd>PAG pathway is crucial for immediate responses to threats, the PMd>AMv pathway is more involved in the long-term processing and reconsolidation of fear memories.</p>
<p>Additionally, the study highlighted the broader circuit involving the septo-hippocampal-hypothalamic pathway, which integrates upstream contextual information and interacts with the PMd to influence both immediate defensive responses and the formation of fear memories. The PMd, therefore, does not work in isolation but as part of a larger network that is essential for both detecting threats and updating memories to reflect changes in the environment.</p>
<p>The implications of these findings extend beyond basic neuroscience. Understanding how these circuits work could inform new treatments for anxiety and fear-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where patients experience exaggerated fear responses and difficulty in managing fear memories. By targeting specific pathways within this circuit, it might be possible to develop therapies that help patients better manage their responses to fear and reduce the impact of traumatic memories.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(24)00604-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A subiculum-hypothalamic pathway functions in dynamic threat detection and memory updating</a>,” was authored by Juliette M.A. Viellard, Fernando F. Melleu, Alicia M. Tamais, Alisson P. de Almeida, Carolina Zerbini, Juliane M. Ikebara, Karolina Domingues, Miguel A.X. de Lima, Fernando A. Oliveira, Simone C. Motta, and Newton S. Canteras</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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