Local scientists discovered a new pathway in the brain responsible for fear memory recall, said the scientists from the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The discovery may provide a new choice for developing new treatment for anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses due to fear and terror.
The achievement was published in Nature Neuroscience yesterday.
In the laboratory, mice were used for the study, which finds that LA-ACx pathway in the brain plays a key role in fear memory and specific structural remodeling is associated with fear learning.
"This study is important as a new target is found for new treatment," said Pu Muming, the group leader. "The current drug treatments for mental illnesses and disorders were mainly developed in 1950s and most of them don't have specific targets but rather impose a wide impact on the brain. The pathway we discovered can provide a target for pathway-specific treatment for mental diseases."
