Understanding the Biology of Fear and Anxiety by Studying Worms

Fear is a common part of human psychology, despite people having different fears. For some it's spiders, snakes, closed spaces, darkness, or any number of things.

Fear and anxiety are closely related in our brain. Many people have anxiety issues or even disorders like panic attacks or PTSD, and they get prescribed anti-anxiety psychiatric drugs to deal with the psychological turmoil. Apparently, 17% or one out of six Americans is on a psychiatric drug. But the effectiveness of a drug varies from person to person. Fear and anxiety aren't so easy to 'pin down' and study.

To understand fear and anxiety better, a recent study conducted research on the nematode worm to analyze the responses the worm has when exposed to chemicals coming from it's natural predator. The team of researchers uncovered the underlying molecular pathways that produce fear-like response which parallels human anxiety. This can potentially allow more accurate drugs to be developed that will block the signals in the brain to alleviate fear and anxiety.

The worm Caenorhabditis elegans has 302 neurons, making it easier to look at and track responses compared to the vastly more complex human brain and neuronal network. Exposing C. elegans to the sulfolipid chemical from the predator worm P. pacificus caused C. elegans to quickly turn away from the place where the chemical was put. Mice react similarly when they are exposed to the scent of cat urine when no cat is actually present.

When C. elegans was soaked in a sulfolipid solution for 30 minutes, they stopped laying eggs even after being removed from the solution for over an hour. This is an indicator of acute stress and a response to long-term anxiety. Soaking the worms in a Zoloft anti-anxiety drug solution removed the fear and anxiety responses, suggesting that the same neural pathways have persisted throughout the evolution of animal species.

The study shows evidence of complex reactions that scientists previously assumed were only present in more advanced brains like those of mammals. Fear is a basic expression in the development of consciousness across animal species, and isn't only present in the more evolved species such as reptiles that is used for the terminology of the base-brain being called the R-Complex or reptilian brain and associated with fight-or-flight and fear responses.

Fear and anxiety are more ancient and ingrained in the evolutionary process than previously thought. Studying the genes, nerves and pathways related to fear and anxiety in the worm can lead to a better understanding of the same process in humans.

Additionally, this knowledge can be used to better protect food crops from certain types of worms. Instead of pesticides that are toxic for nematode species, other animal species and human animals, new chemicals might be developed that deter and repel the crop-damaging worms. This would optimize food production and human health by protecting the food and protecting our health as well.

Some fears might be biological and uncontrollable, but many are purely psychological to induce biological and physiological responses in our bodies. I induced an anxiety attack once by worrying about a potential detrimental health outcome, all through the power of consciousness. I just thought about something, saw a potential future outcome I didn't like, and feared it, which made my feel nauseous, giving me an upset stomach, feeling like I was going to vomit, giving me a fever, sweating and almost passing out. It's amazing how powerful the mind/consciousness is to induce physiological changes in our body when no threat or illness is present.

Do you suffer from anxiety or frequent fear of something? Have psychiatric drugs helped you? Have you been able to deal with fear or anxiety through conscious self-reflection to overcome these psychological states?

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References:

• Decoding the chemistry of fear
• Predator-secreted sulfolipids induce defensive responses in C. elegans

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Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.

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