Summary: New research has revealed that being able to witness special brain changes is different from those brought on by first-hand trauma. According to the study, implicit stress causes various proteins degradation patterns in crucial brain regions involved in worry memory.
Additionally, sex-specific distinctions were found, which may explain why women are twice as likely to experience PTSD. These studies point to the possibility that bystander PTSD may involve various treatment options, opening the door to more precisely targeted solutions.
Important Information
- Distinct Brain Changes: Seeing pain impacts brain protein decay designs in a different way from seeing it first.
- Sex-specific differences: Women’s brains process direct concern memories different, which may account for their higher PTSD danger.
- New Treatment Potential: Findings emphasize the need for focused PTSD treatments based on the type of trauma and genetic factors.
Origin: Virginia Tech
Post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) has been primarily studied in people who have experienced trauma firsthand for years.
What about the witnesses themselves, such as military veterans, first responders, health care providers, or victims of violence, who make up 10 % of all PTSD cases?
New analysis from Virginia Tech, which was published in PLOS ONE, reveals that when one witnesses trauma, unlike those brought on by first-hand stress, results in special brain changes.  ,
The research is the first to demonstrate the chemical differences between bystander PTSD and immediately acquired PTSD, and it may also help to change the way the disorders are treated.  ,
According to Timothy Jarome, the site’s main investigator and equate professor of neuroscience in the , College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, “patients with immediately acquired PTSD and bystander Anxiety are treated the same way… with a combination of treatments and medication.”  ,
According to our research, “direct trauma and direct trauma produce different biological responses, which may indicate that they may need different treatment options that target unique brain pathways.”
Understanding how study causes PTSD
The research of Jarome  focuses on discovering the physiological mechanisms that contribute to memory-related disorders, including PTSD, memory, and Alzheimer’s disease. His involvement in bystander PTSD came about after learning about Anxiety symptoms that were reported in people who witnessed the fatal 2021 collapse of a Miami condo.
He claimed that “people who witnessed it from across the city reported having nightmares, depression, and anxiety.”
They were exhibiting signs of PTSD, but they didn’t experience it or have any relation to the people in the tower. We sought to understand the mental processes underlying how that occurred.
Scientists focused on protein changes in three crucial brain regions involved in anxiety storage: the brain, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the retrosplenial brain, in order to analyze the findings. In contrast to directly experiencing stress, they discovered that witnessing stress triggered unique protein degeneration patterns in all three regions.  ,
Also, they found sex-specific differences in how the brains of men and women process implicit fear memories.
These findings expand on earlier studies from Jarome’s facility that found a , specific proteins known as K-63 ubiquitin, to be involved in the development of PTSD in women.
According to the paper’s lead author, Shaghayegh Navabpour, a former Ph. D., “our findings highlight significant biological differences in how male and female brains respond to being exposed to trauma.” PhD student at Stanford University who is currently a postdoctoral researcher in clinical science, medicine, and health.  ,
These variations may help explain why women are twice as likely to experience PTSD as people, leading to more targeted procedures that take into account these sex-specific elements.
In upcoming research, Jarome wants to find out how these chemical pathways can be used to create more precise PTSD treatments. Additionally, he hopes to research the function of empathy in bystander PTSD, which is derived from a different brain region called the front isolated cortex.
The crucial responsibility that student researchers play
The National Institute of Mental Health, which is a member of the National Institutes of Health, provided funding for the studies with a$ 420, 000 grant. The award also helped give the stipends of graduate and undergraduate studies assistants on the job, in addition to paying for the tools and materials costs of the study.
According to Jarome,” students from educational institutions, students, undergraduates, doctoral students, and postdocs” are the driving forces behind research.
” These students are working on their education, despite faculty members having the money to do the projects,” the truth is. Knowledge doesn’t improve without grad students, especially students and postdocs.
Navabpour, who received her Ph. Virginia Tech graduate with a doctoral degree in 2023 is currently working at Stanford to create a drug to treat Alzheimer’s condition.
She said,” My time in Dr. Jarome’s laboratory was incredibly helpful in shaping my job and getting me ready for my current postdoc position and my desire to work as a faculty member.”
I gained hands-on experience with important methods and practices that continue to inform my research, as well as how to ask the right questions and strategy problems thoroughly.
About this news from neuroscience and PTSD research
Author: Margaret Ashburn
Source: Virginia Tech
Contact: Margaret Ashburn – Virginia Tech
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Free of charge.
According to Timothy Jarome and al.,” Different, sex-specific molecular signatures can be found in indirectly acquired fear memories from directly acquired fear memories..” PLOS One
Abstract
Different, sex-specific molecular signatures can be found in indirectly acquired fear memories from directly acquired fear memories.
A severe anxiety disorder called post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) affects women more than men. About 30 % of PTSD sufferers are influenced by witnessing a traumatic event take place by another person.
However, since the focus has remained on those who have experienced the traumatic event directly, whether those who have acquired the fear memories that underlie PTSD have the same molecular makeup as those that have been directly acquired remains a mystery.
We found that fear can be indirectly acquired by both males and females regardless of the sex or novelty ( familiarity ) of the demonstrator animal using a rodent indirect fear learning paradigm where one rat ( observer ) watches another rat ( demonstrator ) associate an auditory cue with foot shock.
However, behaviorally acquired, indirectly acquired fear responses resemble pseudoconditioning, a behavioral response that is believed to be indistinguishable from learning.
Despite this, using unbiased proteomics, we discovered that in contrast to directly acquired fear memories and pseudoconditioning, which differed significantly by sex, that indirectly acquired fear memories have distinct protein degradation profiles in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC )
Additionally, the expression of  , Egr2 , and  , c-fos  in the retrosplenial cortex of observer animals resembled that of demonstrator rats but was markedly different from that of pseudoconditioned rats.
Together, these findings demonstrate that sex-specific molecular signatures associated with indirectly acquired fear memories are different from those associated with pseudoconditioning or directly acquired fear memories.
These findings have significant implications for better understanding the neurobiology of indirectly acquired fear memories that may explain bystander PTSD.
