Jumping gene found to be strongly linked to depression, fear, and anxiety

Image source: Anemone123 via Pixabay. Press release by Lucy Dickie. Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology – September 9, 2022.

Highlights

• Researchers have found that a well-known gene, Tob, plays an important role in reducing depression, fear, and anxiety.
• This conclusion was drawn after several different experiments involving mice in both cell biology and neuroscience.
• They also found that the Tob gene within the hippocampus was important for reducing fear and depression, but not anxiety. That seemed to be controlled by another part of the brain.
• What’s more, the mice without the Tob gene didn’t seem to learn that a place wasn’t so bad—they continued to show increased levels of fear observed as freezing, even after several days.
• The researchers stated that uncovering this role of the Tob gene in depression, fear, and anxiety could have vast implications for developing therapeutics for psychiatric stress […]

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