Study Reveals a Genetic Overlap Between Childhood and Adult Mental Health Disorders

 

An article posted by Medical News explains that a new study carried out by the University of Queensland found that hereditary factors are partly responsible for childhood anxiety and depression that persists into adulthood. This study was the largest of its kind (involving data from 64,641 children between the ages of 3 to 18 years) to examine the role of genetics in repeated measures of anxiety and depression in children.

Professor Christel Middeldorp, associated with the UQ Child Health Research Centre and Children’s Health Queensland, stated that children who had similar levels of anxiety and depression tended to be alike genetically. The study also revealed a genetic overlap between childhood and adult mental health disorders when comparing the results in this childhood study with the results of previous adult studies. These findings can help mental health and medical professionals identify people most at risk of symptoms continuing across the lifespan and can help these individuals find suitable treatment(s) and resources.

Genetic variants need to be further investigated because they increase the risk of recurrence and co-occurrence with other disorders. According to Middledorp, “Mental health symptoms often come together, so those who experience anxiety or depression have a greater risk of disorders such as ADHD or aggressive behavior.” As substantiated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), genetics account for around 40% of a person’s risk of suffering anxiety and depression, with environmental factors accounting for the rest. There is a difference in how people respond to stressors and part of that difference is genetic.

Future research will analyze how genetics and environmental variables, such as school and family life, impact each other and how, together, they influence childhood anxiety and depression.

Related article: https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-019-0326-8

Genetics Behind Anxiety Disorders

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital move into researching the specific genetics behind anxiety disorders. The latest research has found that a specific gene is in association with anxiety traits. In individuals with these particular traits, it was found that vital neurotransmitter activity was compromised.

After studies performed with mice, it was found that the RGS2 protein, which is coded for by a specific gene is associated with fearful behavior. This theory was then tested in children twenty one months up to six years through over one hundred different families. The findings were consistent with the same sort of association in mice. The testing was extended to over seven hundred college students. The information from this study further supported the previous findings.
These findings and tests are so important considering what a serious and wide spread problem anxiety disorders are. Being someone who has Generalized Anxiety Disorder, I really look forward to how these discoveries will develop into treatment. I hope that in identifying specifics, scientists and doctors will be able to narrow treatment to target the real genetic issues. I am also always prideful in seeing more and more science discovered in association and causation of mental illnesses because it belittles the taboo association with these serious disorders.

Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/03/04/genetic-disposition-for-anxiety/1997.html

Oxytocin Used to Help Patients Overcome Fear

A team of researchers working under the guidance of the University of Bonn Hospital in a recent study showed that the bonding hormone oxytocin inhibits the fear center in the brain and allows fear stimuli to subside more easily. The hope is that this research will provide the basis for future treatment of anxiety disorders.

Significant fear can become entrenched in a person’s brain with individuals involved in car accidents providing a key example. Individuals involved in car accidents often find it very difficult to handle street traffic after their accident due to significant anxiety. Scientists refer to this as conditioning where certain images or noises, such as screeching tires, are associated in the brain with pain or fear.

Overtime the original contents of the fearful memory are not erased; however, positive experiences overtake the original memory through the process of extinction. Nonetheless, if encountered with a dangerous situation similar to the original fear, the original fear comes back.

Dr. René Hurlemann from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University of Bonn Hospital stated, “Oxytocin actually reinforces extinction: Under its influence, the expectation of recurrent fear subsequently abates to a greater extent than without this messenger.”

Specifically the team of researchers showed various images to 62 male patients. For 70 percent of the images the research subjects received a very brief electrical shock to their hand via electrodes. When the images, where the electrical shock was experienced, were viewed again anxiety was noted in the tests subject’s brains. For the second portion of the study half of the test subjects received oxytocin via a nasal spray while the other half received a placebo.

After receiving either the oxytocin or the placebo the patients were shown the same images as before; however, this time there were no electrical shocks experienced. In those patients who received the oxytocin the amygdala, fear center in the brain, was far less active than in the control group who received the placebo. In those patients that received the placebo the fear-inhibiting regions were more stimulated. The researchers hope that with the aid of oxytocin anxiety patients can be helped more quickly and that a relapses can be prevented more easily.

This article was very interesting because anxiety is something that is often overlooked and forgotten about. It’s clear that something that happens every day, such as car accidents, can have a long lasting effect on an individual even after the physical injuries have subsided. I am curious to see the results of further clinical trials that have larger sample sizes and potentially with patients with severe anxiety disorders to see how well oxytocin alleviates the anxiety in these patients.  

Main article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141113110014.htm

Secondary article: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-oxytocin.html