TSRI Researchers Discover How the Brain Turns Chronic Stress into Pathological Anxiety LA JOLLA, CA February 13, 2017 In a new study, researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have described how two important molecules in the brain work together to trigger intense anxiety.
The new findings in animal models point to a novel interaction in the regulation of the brain's stress response that may underlie the pathological anxiety related to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Anxiety and stress disorders affect millions of people worldwide, explained study leader Marisa Roberto, a professor at TSRI. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these disorders is important for identifying potential new targets for therapeutic use.
The researchers focused on the endogenous cannabinoid (endocannabinoid or eCB) system, which include natural lipid signaling molecules that bind to cannabinoid receptors in the brain. Cannabinoid (type 1) receptors control stress-mediating circuits by inhibiting neurotransmitter release a sort of gating mechanism to keep anxiety in check.
In contrast to the stress-reducing properties of endocannabinoids, a peptide molecule called corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) activates the stress response and promotes increased sensitivity to stress and anxiety when activated over and over again.
In the new study, published today in the journal Biological Psychiatry, the researchers investigated the interaction between the stress-promoting (CRF) and stress-constraining (eCBs) mechanisms in the central nucleus of the amygdala, a critical brain region involved in mediating emotional reactions. The findings suggest that overactive CRF signaling in this region produces a wide range of effects that override the stress-reducing capabilities of a major eCB called N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide), turning chronic stress into unchecked, or pathological, anxiety.
Anxiety is something that everyone experiences on a day-to-day basis, said study first author Luis A. Natividad, a research associate in the Roberto lab. But it is unclear what changes this otherwise natural process into something debilitating.
To answer this question, Roberto's lab teamed up with Roberto Ciccocioppo's lab at the University of Camerino, Italy, and the lab of TSRI Professor Loren ( Larry ) Parsons, a renowned leader in the fields of endocannabinoid signaling, stress and drug addiction who passed away in 2016.
The researchers studied rats that were genetically selected for higher alcohol drinking and also display an anxiety-like phenotype. These rats exhibit a mutation in a gene called Crhr1 that increases CRF (type 1) receptor signaling.
Using behavioral, neurochemical and electrophysiological approaches, the researchers found that increased CRF signaling led to elevated activity of the anandamide clearance enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). Increased CRF was also associated with drops in anandamide levels in the central nucleus of the amygdala. Together, increased FAAH activity and decreased anandamide signaling reduce inhibitory control of excitatory neurotransmission in this critical region, and lower the brain's ability to regulate stress and anxiety.
The researchers concluded that long-term dysregulation of CRF-FAAH mechanisms in the amygdala keeps anandamide from doing its job. Without anandamide to balance out the system, the brain is primed to react to stress.
Follow-up experiments showed that inhibiting FAAH could blunt CRF's effects and reduce signs of anxiety in the rats.
Roberto said the next step will be to further study this rat model to better understand relationships between high anxiety and alcoholism. She added that the rat model could also be useful for studying PTSD, where high anxiety is connected to a higher risk of developing alcoholism.
The results of our study may be useful, not only in understanding the neurobiological basis of alcoholism, anxiety and possibly PTSD, but also in developing more efficacious pharmacotherapies to treat these disorders, added Ciccocioppo.
The researchers dedicated this study to Parsons. Natividad added a note on Parson's influence on the research and on the TSRI campus:
Larrys guidance throughout the study was critical in bringing together a cohesive story exploring the relevance of endocannabinoid signaling with downstream neural processing in a way that is unique to the field and has translational relevance to the human condition. He serves as a role model for me not only as a scientist, but also in terms of being a good colleague, mentor and friend to those around him. I feel privileged to have been part of his lab, his teachings and mentorship. He will be dearly missed.
Additional authors of the study, Constitutive increases in amygdalar corticotropin releasing factor and fatty acid amide hydrolase drive an anxious phenotype, were Matthew W. Buczynski (now at Virginia Tech) Melissa A. Herman (now at University of North Carolina), Dean Kirson, Christopher S. Oleata, Cristina Irimia (now at Stanford), and Ilham Polis of TSRI.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (grants R37-AA017447, P60-AA006420, R01-AA020404, R01-AA021491 and R01-AA015566) and a Research Supplement to Promote Diversity.
About The Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the worlds largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browni
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
TSRI Researchers Discover How the Brain Turns Chronic Stress into Pathological Anxiety LA JOLLA, CA February 13, 2017 In a new study, researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have described how two important molecules in the brain work together to trigger intense anxiety.
