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Article
| Open Access
Mesenchymal stromal cells alleviate depressive and anxiety-like behaviors via a lung vagal-to-brain axis in male mice
Major depressive disorder is a major public health problem. Here, the authors illustrate that mesenchymal stromal cells exert antidepressant and anxiolytic effects through a pulmonary vagal→ nucleus tractus solitarius → 5-HT dorsal raphe nucleus neural pathway in murine depression models.
- Jing Huang
- , Weijun Huang
- & Andy Peng Xiang
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Article
| Open Access
Anxious individuals shift emotion control from lateral frontal pole to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Why anxious individuals fail to control emotional behaviour is not well understood. Here, the authors show that highly anxious individuals have a more excitable lateral frontopolar cortex, and fail to recruit this region during emotional action control.
- Bob Bramson
- , Sjoerd Meijer
- & Karin Roelofs
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Article
| Open Access
Accelerated biological aging and risk of depression and anxiety: evidence from 424,299 UK Biobank participants
Theory indicates that biological aging may contribute to poor mental health in late life. Here, authors show advanced biological aging may represent a potential risk factor for incident depression/anxiety in midlife and older adults and a potential target for risk assessment and intervention.
- Xu Gao
- , Tong Geng
- & Tao Huang
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Article
| Open Access
Midbrain projection to the basolateral amygdala encodes anxiety-like but not depression-like behaviors
Anxiety and depression are highly comorbid, yet the distinct or shared neurobiological correlates of anxiety remain elusive. Here, Morel et al. define that the midbrain projection to the basolateral amygdala control anxiety but not depression.
- Carole Morel
- , Sarah E. Montgomery
- & Ming-Hu Han
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Article
| Open Access
Over-activation of primate subgenual cingulate cortex enhances the cardiovascular, behavioral and neural responses to threat
Alexander et al. causally implicate over-activity in primate subgenual cingulate in affective and cardiovascular dysfunction relevant to anxiety and depression. Over-activation led to elevated activity in a stress-related network whilst decreasing activity in higher-order prefrontal cognitive regions.
- Laith Alexander
- , Christian M. Wood
- & Angela C. Roberts
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Article
| Open Access
Posterior basolateral amygdala to ventral hippocampal CA1 drives approach behaviour to exert an anxiolytic effect
Projections from the anterior and posterior basolateral amygdala (pBLA) to the ventral hippocampus CA1 (vCA1) are heterogenous. Here the authors show that activating the pathway from pBLA to vCA1 calbindin 1 positive neurons has an anxiolytic effect in approach-avoidance tasks in mice.
- Guilin Pi
- , Di Gao
- & Jian–Zhi Wang
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Article
| Open Access
Chromatin organization in the female mouse brain fluctuates across the oestrous cycle
The molecular mechanisms underlying the dynamic nature of the female brain structure and function remain poorly understood. Here the authors characterise chromatin organization in the mouse female ventral hippocampus, finding it fluctuates with the oestrous cycle, and identify changes in chromatin organization associated with the transcription of genes important for neuronal function and behaviour.
- Ivana Jaric
- , Devin Rocks
- & Marija Kundakovic
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Article
| Open Access
IgSF9b regulates anxiety behaviors through effects on centromedial amygdala inhibitory synapses
IgSF9b is a synaptic adhesion protein that has been linked to psychiatric disorders. Here the authors show that deletion of IgSF9b regulates anxiety-like behaviour in mice by increasing inhibitory synaptic transmission in the centromedial amygdala.
- Olga Babaev
- , Hugo Cruces-Solis
- & Dilja Krueger-Burg
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Article
| Open Access
Deactivation of excitatory neurons in the prelimbic cortex via Cdk5 promotes pain sensation and anxiety
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is implicated in pain regulation, yet the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here the authors establish a critical role for mPFC in regulating pain sensation and pain-related anxiety, mediated by activation of the cyclin-dependent kinase 5 signalling pathway.
- Guo-Qiang Wang
- , Cheng Cen
- & Yun Wang
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Increased CRF signalling in a ventral tegmental area-interpeduncular nucleus-medial habenula circuit induces anxiety during nicotine withdrawal
Abstinent smokers experience affective withdrawal symptoms that contribute to relapse, yet the circuitry and mechanisms underlying these symptoms are unknown. Here the authors identify a critical role for a ventral tegmental area-habenula-interpeduncular circuit in nicotine withdrawal-induced anxiety.
- Rubing Zhao-Shea
- , Steven R. DeGroot
- & Andrew R. Tapper
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Pharmacological targeting of the mammalian clock regulates sleep architecture and emotional behaviour
Synthetic compounds that alter circadian rhythms have been shown to modulate energy expenditure and systemic metabolism in rodents. Here, the authors study the psychological effects of such compounds, and find synthetic REV-ERB agonists increase wakefulness and reduce anxiety-like behaviour in mice.
- Subhashis Banerjee
- , Yongjun Wang
- & Thomas P. Burris
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Placental programming of anxiety in adulthood revealed by Igf2-null models
Insulin-like growth factor-2 is implicated in foetal and placental development in mammals. Mikaelsson et al. study transgenic mice with disrupted insulin-like growth factor-2 signalling and find that their offspring are more anxious when they reach adulthood.
- Mikael Allan Mikaelsson
- , Miguel Constância
- & Trevor Humby
Stress increases hepatic release of lipocalin 2 which contributes to anxiety-like behavior in mice