(ORDO NEWS) — Experiments on mice have shown that rapid heartbeats can cause anxiety, exacerbating feelings of fear and panic.
Anxiety and panic make our heart beat faster. But is there a feedback that causes anxiety due to an increased heart rate?
This issue remained a subject of discussion for many years. It is only now that scientists at University College London have shown that heartbeats can actually affect the brain, at least in mice.
Deisseroth is considered one of the pioneers of optogenetics , a method that allows you to control the activity of neurons using light-sensitive proteins, opsins.
A few years ago, Deisseroth’s team described algae-derived channel rhodopsin 2 and developed ChRmine, a highly effective synthetic opsin.
Such a “switch” is able to perceive radiation of a sufficiently large wavelength, which penetrates the tissues of the surface of the body. This makes it possible to control cells and organs located in depth.
In their new work, Deisseroth and colleagues used viral vectors to introduce the gene encoding ChRmine into the cardiomyocytes of laboratory mice.
These animals were put on specially designed “vests” with LEDs, with which it was possible to stimulate their tachycardia – an accelerated heartbeat.
At rest, the heart of mice makes about 600 beats per minute, but thanks to GM-modified cells and radiation, it was possible to bring it up to 900 beats.
At first, with such an artificially accelerated heartbeat, the rodents did not show any signs of panic.
It would seem that this shows that there is no “feedback” from the heart to the brain. But more careful experiments nevertheless confirmed its existence.
It turned out that for this it is necessary to create the minimum suitable conditions – for example, to transfer animals from an ordinary cramped cage to a wide open space that causes them stress.
In such circumstances, optogenetic stimulation of the heart created much more panic in GM mice than in animals from the control group.
Feeling the rapid beats of their hearts, they huddled in horror against the walls and corners, avoiding the open areas of the paddock with all their might.
With the help of fluorescent markers, the scientists tracked exactly which parts of the brain of mice fire in response to an accelerated heartbeat.
It turned out that the neurons of the cortex of the posterior lobe of the insula and the prefrontal cortex show the greatest activity in this case.
Both of these areas play an important role in sensory processing, and when the prefrontal cortex was artificially suppressed, tachycardia stopped causing panic.
According to the authors, all this may suggest new approaches for helping people who suffer from increased anxiety and panic attacks.
If an accelerated heartbeat exacerbates such conditions, then slowing it down can ease the severity of such painful experiences.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.