Australian scientists have made an “exciting” discovery about the human brain that they say could lead to new treatments for numerous mental health conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A study conducted by researchers at the Queensland Brain Institute, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, found that the adult brain can generate new nerve cells in the amygdala – the region responsible for producing feelings of fear and dread.
“Finding ways of stimulating the production of new brain cells in the amygdala could give us new avenues for treating disorders of fear processing, which include anxiety, PTSD and depression,” said Dhanisha Jhaveri a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute.
The amygdala is found deep inside the brain and it plays a key role in controlling the way people react to certain stimuli or an emotional event that is viewed as potentially threatening or dangerous.
This is known as fear learning, Dr Jhaveri said.