Anxiety

Recent articles

Research image of neurons in the interpeduncular nucleus.

‘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.

By Lauren Schenkman
4 June 2025 | 5 min listen
Tiger in a brain scanner.

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.

By Christine J. Charvet
17 March 2025 | 5 min read
Illustration of a body, brain visible through a transparent head, looking at orange circles over its hands.

Rethinking mental health: The body’s impact on the brain

Mounting evidence illustrates how peripheral molecules can influence brain function, offering new therapeutic targets.

By Georgia E. Hodes
11 February 2025 | 6 min read
Two rhesus macaque monkeys.

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.

By Charles Q. Choi
25 November 2024 | 5 min read
Research image of mouse brain slices.

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.

By Charles Q. Choi
14 November 2024 | 4 min read
Illustration of a mouse with cheese on its left and a drop of water on its right.

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.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
11 October 2024 | 8 min read
Image of the dorsal raphe area of the brain.

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.

By Claudia López Lloreda
9 April 2024 | 5 min read
Research image of microglia in rats.

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.

By Holly Barker
23 January 2024 | 8 min read
Three groups of people meet and mix at a crossroads.

Year in Review: Spectrum’s best in 2023

Here are five must-reads from our coverage of autism research over the past 12 months.

28 December 2023 | 4 min read

Autism research hits the road

Some scientists are thinking creatively about how to collect data in flexible environments and meet communities where they’re at.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
8 December 2023 | 0 min watch

Explore more from The Transmitter

Hundred dollar bill digitally cut into small pieces.

NIH cuts quash $323 million for neuroscience research and training

“I am frightened for the state of the future of our field if this isn't reversed rapidly,” says Joshua Gordon, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

By Claudia López Lloreda
16 June 2025 | 8 min read
Illustration of complex, intersecting biological structures.

Everything, everywhere, all at once: Inside the chaos of Alzheimer’s disease

To truly understand Alzheimer’s disease, we may need to take a systems approach, in which inflammation, vascular injury, impaired glucose metabolism and other factors interact in complex ways.

By Michael A. Yassa
16 June 2025 | 7 min read
Photograph of a chickadee.

Gazing at a location from afar activates place cells in chickadees

The results help explain how the hippocampus can recall information about a place without an animal physically revisiting it.

By Marta Hill
13 June 2025 | 6 min listen