Most people will gradually recover from trauma, but a few people will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Scientists have been searching for the biological basis of this disease. Researchers exposed about 100 experimental mice to litter litter, worried that they might be predators, and tested the impact of trauma on experimental mice a week later. About a quarter of the experimental rats were classified as "extreme" responders. In other words, they show a high sense of anxiety and can easily hear high-decibel noises. Another quarter of laboratory mice are the "smallest" responders. In other words, the degree of anxiety displayed is the same as that of laboratory mice under normal conditions.
To explore the mechanisms that control trauma sensitivity, the researchers used DNA microarray technology to scan 22,000 genes in the blood, amygdala and hippocampus (the brain area related to fear and memory). Genes 86 to 334 showed expression levels. Change-This seems to be related to maximum or minimum responsiveness.
Most genes seem to express fragility or adaptability, but not both. Das Carakis, a neuroendocrinologist at the Inain School of Medicine in New York City, said that genetically, two different stress response systems seem to control an individual's sensitivity to PTSD. Being displayed. Based on this study, the researchers further speculated that 73 transcription factors can regulate the expression of genes related to trauma susceptibility and resilience. One quarter of them are related to glucocorticoid receptor signaling. Although scientists have long suspected that the development of PTSD is related to glucocorticoid receptor signaling disorders, some studies have shown that this may be due to abnormally low receptor activity.