An article published in the journal Current Biology describes experiments that mapped a brain circuit responsible for instantly detecting threats and forming memories of fear. "We were interested in ...

Anxiety disorders (like social anxiety) and stress disorders (like PTSD) are among the most common mental health diagnoses with a lifetime prevalence of almost 30%. New technologies like fMRI, which ...

Deleting a gene called PTEN in certain brain cells disrupts the brain’s fear circuitry and triggers anxiety-like behavior in mice — key traits seen in autism. Researchers mapped how this genetic tweak ...

It’s been months since you were mugged in a dark parking lot. The anxiety and fear from the experience is still affecting your life. A therapist might suggest you revisit that same parking lot to face ...

Nk3R antagonism decreases fear memory consolidation. (A) Experimental procedure of fear memory consolidation after stress. Created with Biorender. (B) Fear acquisition and expression in mice ...

Stress is the brain’s natural response to fear, but it often disrupts memory in the process, potentially impacting the possibility of memory loss. When preparing for a big presentation or taking a ...

These mice learned fear memories normally after a traumatic experience, but were unable to extinguish them. As a result, they displayed exaggerated long-term fear responses—closely resembling PTSD.

Dangers come but dangers also go and when they do, the brain has an “all-clear” signal that teaches it to extinguish its fear. A new study in mice by MIT neuroscientists shows that the signal is the ...

Schematic model showing how memory is consolidated in the prefrontal cortex and how circuitry through the amygdala shifts as hippocampal engram cells become silent and cortical engrams become active.