14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that animals are born with the substance that can one day cause in them fear of predators or of dangerous stimuli in their environment. A protein called beta-catenin, which is present in the embryo since birth, is believed to create some sort of connections in the brain that cause mammals like mice to learn a dangerous pattern, and develop a response to it. For example, lab mice subjected to a tone before being electroshocked learn to react to that tone and freeze, which is their natural defense mechanism.
Although the research is still some distance away from providing us with an effective means to literally fight our fears, Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine, and just one of the scientists working on this new study, believes that, someday, doctors will be able to put an end to worrying statistics, which show that every year more than 40 million adults suffer from some form of fear-related symptoms, such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or phobia.
Graduate student Kimberly Maguschak, working with Ressler on the study, says that, if beta-catenin is removed from mice's brains with the help of a virus, they eventually begin to stop fearing the tone. According to the researchers, two or three days after removing the protein, mice begin to spend as much as half less time “frozen” than they did before.
This can help doctors someday better understand the mechanism through which fear overwhelms some people, rendering them incapable of elaborating an appropriate response to certain dangerous situations.
Currently, the only defense humans have against fear is their natural ability to resist it, which varies considerably from one individual to another, as well as some fear-managing techniques that can be studied. Unfortunately, there are people afraid of even trying to defeat their fears, while others try to avoid any hostile contacts with other individuals altogether, lest the conflict escalates.