Summary: New research has revealed how significantly cortisol influences brain social behavior and psychological responses. Animal models have demonstrated how social anxiety and early-life views that are chronically stressed or shaped behavioral patterns are affected by this hormone.
These findings suggest oxytocin’s ability as a therapy for medical conditions like societal anxiety, autism, and melancholy. The study emphasizes the need to improve the delivery of hormone and investigate its part in stress resilience.
This research opens the door to individualized treatment for social and emotional disorders. The findings gate advances in mental health care’s molecular science and medicine.
Important Information:
- Social Anxiety Systems: Oxytocin plays a vital role in reducing cultural fear and anxiety.
- Medical Advances: Promising goal for treating social anxiety, dementia, and depression.
- Stress Resilience: First life pressure and chronic stress are closely tied to oxytocin processes.
Origin: Genomic Press
Professor Inga Neumann, Chair of the University of Regensburg’s Department of Behavioural and Molecular Neurobiology, provides breakthrough insights into how serotonin influences social behaviour and psychological responses in the mind in a complete genome-based media interview.
The meeting, published in , Brain Medicine, showcases Professor Neumann’s pioneer research on neuropeptides, especially hormone, which has evolved far beyond its famous classification as just the “love estrogen”.
” I am convinced that increasing our awareness about the stimuli, dynamics, and consequences of their intracerebral launch at the psychological, physiological, biological, and chemical levels may improve our understanding of basic mind mechanisms”, explains Professor Neumann, whose work spans from molecular mechanisms to behavioural outcomes.
Her research team has created novel methods for studying social anxiety, including a cutting-edge mouse model of social fear conditioning. This research has opened up new avenues for understanding how early-life experiences and chronic stress affect social behavior patterns.
Professor Neumann notes that the potential therapeutic targets for psychiatric disorders like autism and depression were the focus of her research as well as the potential role of the brain’s oxytocin and AVP systems as therapeutic targets.
” The hope is that one day it will be possible to apply oxytocin reliably to treat – for example – treatment-resistant patients suffering from anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety, but also autism and schizophrenia”.
Professor Neumann has advanced scientific knowledge and broken gender barriers in academia as the first woman appointed full professor at the Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine at the University of Regensburg.
Her leadership includes directing the Graduate School” Neurobiology of Socio-Emotional Dysfunctions” and directing the Elite Masters Programme in Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience.
From her early work in East Germany to her current position as a leading international researcher, the interview offers unique insights into the challenges and triumphs of conducting neuroscience research across various political eras.
She recalls how her team had to build their own research equipment using donated materials, describing how “my beginnings as a scientist behind the” Iron Curtain” were bumpy.
Her current research focuses on identifying the neuroactive molecules involved in social fear, particularly those that include oxytocin, CRF, and other molecules. This research has important implications for addressing social anxiety disorders and educating people about stress resilience.
Looking ahead, Professor Neumann’s research raises intriguing questions about the future of psychiatric treatment: How can we optimize the delivery of oxytocin-based therapies to the brain? What function might epigenetic factors play in disorders of social behavior? How can we apply research from animal models to therapeutic use in humans?
About this news from behavioral neuroscience research on oxytocin
Author: Ma-Li Wong
Source: Genomic Press
Contact: Ma-Li Wong – Genomic Press
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
” More than just a love story, the brain’s oxytocin system and its role in socio-emotional behavior:” by Inga Neumann. Brain Medicine
Abstract
More than just a love story, the brain’s oxytocin system and its role in socio-emotional behavior:
Professor Inga Neumann, who has over 30 years of expertise to her name, is at the forefront of neuropeptide research. She is the Chair of the University of Regensburg, Germany’s Department of Behavioural and Molecular Neurobiology.
She began her scientific career at the Karl-Marx-University in Leipzig ( now the University of Leipzig ), where she earned both her PhD and diploma in biology. Prior to taking up her current position at Regensburg in 2001, she began her career by working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary in Canada and for seven years at the Max-Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich.
She has established and led the Elite Masters Programme in Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience, serving as the first woman to hold the position of full professor at the Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine. Currently, she heads the Graduate School” Neurobiology of Socio-Emotional Dysfunctions”, a prestigious program funded by the German Research Foundation since 2017.
The heart of her research lies in understanding how neuropeptides, particularly oxytocin, vasopressin, and CRF, orchestrate stress responses and social behaviours. Her research uses rodent models to explore the mysteries of the social brain, spanning various levels of analysis, including molecular mechanisms and epigenetics to neural circuits and behavior.
Professor Neumann offers insights into both her scientific journey and personal philosophy in this Genomic Press Interview. She shares her reflections on a life that was dedicated to unraveling the complex connections between brain chemistry and behavior.