Anxiety
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Why we need basic science to better understand the neurobiology of psychedelics
Despite the many psychedelics clinical trials underway, there is still much we don’t know about how these drugs work. Preclinical studies represent our best viable avenue to answer these lingering questions.
Why we need basic science to better understand the neurobiology of psychedelics
Despite the many psychedelics clinical trials underway, there is still much we don’t know about how these drugs work. Preclinical studies represent our best viable avenue to answer these lingering questions.
Emotion research has a communication conundrum
In 2025, the words we use to describe emotions matter, but their definitions are controversial. Here, I unpack the different positions in this space and the rationales behind them—and I invite 13 experts to chime in.
Emotion research has a communication conundrum
In 2025, the words we use to describe emotions matter, but their definitions are controversial. Here, I unpack the different positions in this space and the rationales behind them—and I invite 13 experts to chime in.
‘Understudied secret’ in brain dampens nicotine drive in mice
The interpeduncular nucleus produces an aversion to nicotine, even at low doses, and helps moderate how rewarding mice find the drug.
‘Understudied secret’ in brain dampens nicotine drive in mice
The interpeduncular nucleus produces an aversion to nicotine, even at low doses, and helps moderate how rewarding mice find the drug.
Lions and tigers and bears: Long-lived zoo animals offer a promising venue to study mental health and neurodegenerative disorders
These animals’ lifestyles often mirror those of people, making them a more relevant milieu than lab mice for determining how environmental factors influence mental health and cognitive decline. Studying them could improve animal welfare in the process.
Lions and tigers and bears: Long-lived zoo animals offer a promising venue to study mental health and neurodegenerative disorders
These animals’ lifestyles often mirror those of people, making them a more relevant milieu than lab mice for determining how environmental factors influence mental health and cognitive decline. Studying them could improve animal welfare in the process.
Rethinking mental health: The body’s impact on the brain
Mounting evidence illustrates how peripheral molecules can influence brain function, offering new therapeutic targets.
Rethinking mental health: The body’s impact on the brain
Mounting evidence illustrates how peripheral molecules can influence brain function, offering new therapeutic targets.
Vasopressin boosts sociability in solitary monkeys
Inhaling the hormone did not increase aggression in unsociable rhesus macaques and appears to help the animals remember faces and reciprocate friendly behaviors.
Vasopressin boosts sociability in solitary monkeys
Inhaling the hormone did not increase aggression in unsociable rhesus macaques and appears to help the animals remember faces and reciprocate friendly behaviors.
Newfound gene network controls long-range connections between emotional, cognitive brain areas
The finding could help unravel gene regulatory networks and explain how genetic and environmental factors interact in neurodevelopmental conditions.
Newfound gene network controls long-range connections between emotional, cognitive brain areas
The finding could help unravel gene regulatory networks and explain how genetic and environmental factors interact in neurodevelopmental conditions.
Should I stay (and eat) or should I go? How the brain balances hunger with competing drives
Understanding the interplay among rival signals, such as pain, thirst and fear, could provide insights into anxiety and other neuropsychiatric conditions.
Should I stay (and eat) or should I go? How the brain balances hunger with competing drives
Understanding the interplay among rival signals, such as pain, thirst and fear, could provide insights into anxiety and other neuropsychiatric conditions.
Neurotransmitter switch-up helps fan extreme stress into full-blown fear
The flip occurs when certain neurons in the dorsal raphe start to express the chemical GABA instead of glutamate, a new study shows.
Neurotransmitter switch-up helps fan extreme stress into full-blown fear
The flip occurs when certain neurons in the dorsal raphe start to express the chemical GABA instead of glutamate, a new study shows.
Temperament is innate but hackable, animal studies suggest
Emotional reactivity and vulnerability to stress are largely inherited in rodents — but can be modified in early life by targeting inflammation-related cells or even just adjusting an animal’s environment.
Temperament is innate but hackable, animal studies suggest
Emotional reactivity and vulnerability to stress are largely inherited in rodents — but can be modified in early life by targeting inflammation-related cells or even just adjusting an animal’s environment.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Nonhuman primate research to lose federal funding at major European facility
The Dutch Senate has ordered the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands to shift its funding away from primate experiments by 2030.
Nonhuman primate research to lose federal funding at major European facility
The Dutch Senate has ordered the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands to shift its funding away from primate experiments by 2030.
Image integrity issues create new headache for subarachnoid hemorrhage research
First-time sleuths found potentially problematic images in hundreds of papers about early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Image integrity issues create new headache for subarachnoid hemorrhage research
First-time sleuths found potentially problematic images in hundreds of papers about early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Ramping up cortical activity in early life sparks autism-like behaviors in mice
The findings add fuel to the long-running debate over how an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory signaling contributes to the autism.
Ramping up cortical activity in early life sparks autism-like behaviors in mice
The findings add fuel to the long-running debate over how an imbalance in excitatory and inhibitory signaling contributes to the autism.