Scientists trying to identify the cause of pessimistic moodsAugust 10, 2018 - 12:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Neuroscientists at MIT believe that they have discovered why patients with neuro-psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety or depression, might experience moods that lead them to focus on the negative side of things, V3.co.uk. The researchers claim to have pinpointed a region in the brain that can generate this type of pessimistic mood and, in tests in animals, showed that stimulating this region - known as the caudate nucleus - induced animals to make more negative decisions. According to the tests, the animals appeared to give far more weight to the anticipated drawback of a situation than its benefit, compared to when the region was not stimulated, with the pessimistic decision-making sometimes continuing throughout the day after the original stimulation. The researchers say the findings could help scientists better understand how some of the crippling effects of depression and anxiety arise, and guide them in developing new treatments. "We feel we were seeing a proxy for anxiety, or depression, or some mix of the two," said MIT Institute Professor Ann Graybiel, who is also a member of MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the senior author of the study. "These psychiatric problems are still so very difficult to treat for many individuals suffering from them." The paper's lead authors are McGovern Institute research affiliates Ken-ichi Amemori and Satoko Amemori, who have been studying emotion and how it is controlled by the brain. McGovern Institute researcher Daniel Gibson, an expert in data analysis, is also an author of the paper. In the study, the researchers wanted to see if they could reproduce an effect that is often seen in people with depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. "These patients tend to engage in ritualistic behaviours designed to combat negative thoughts, and to place more weight on the potential negative outcome of a given situation," the report says. It's this kind of negative thinking that the researchers suspected could influence approach-avoidance decision-making. To test this hypothesis, they stimulated the caudate nucleus, a brain region linked to emotional decision-making, with a small electrical current as animals were offered a reward (juice) paired with an unpleasant stimulus (a puff of air to the face). "In each trial, the ratio of reward to aversive stimuli was different, and the animals could choose whether to accept or not," the report states. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. Armenia: Defense Ministry warns against involving army in political processes The Ministry’s statement came after a video surfaced online, showing soldiers joining the protests in Tavush. Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. |