'Anxiety Cells' Identified in the Brain's Hippocampus
Using optogenetics, anxiety cells in the brains of mice light up when the animal is stressed. Image by Lab of Rene Hen, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Have you ever stood in a high place and felt the instinctive drive to step back and find safety? Researchers studying the brains of mice may have found the neurons responsible for such deep-seated anxieties.
In a study published Jan. 31 in Neuron, a team of scientists at UC San Francisco and Columbia University Medical Center report discovering previously unknown “anxiety cells” in the mouse hippocampus.
The hippocampus is known for forming new memories of events and places, but recent research has shown that parts of the hippocampus also play a powerful role in our emotional lives as well.