WASHINGTON — Children inherit the brain function that underlies anxiety and depression, according to new research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The research, on rhesus monkeys, showed young monkeys, like humans, have what is called an “anxious temperament.” When exposed to a mildly stressful situation, such as being in a room with a stranger, the monkeys stop moving and vocalizing, while their stress hormones skyrocket, says lead researcher, psychiatrist Ned Kalin.
According to Live Science, Kalin and his colleagues scanned the brains of young monkeys, and found three regions of the brains that are associated with anxiety and also are affected by family history.
Kalin’s conclusion that about 30 percent of early anxiety can attributed to genes passed down by the monkey’s mother and father was published July 6 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The three regions of the brain that are both subject to anxiety and family history — the orbitofrontal cortex, the amygdala, and the limbic system — are more active in anxious brains, said Kalin.
“We believe that our study shows that the overactivity of that system is inherited from our parents,” and may leave a person vulnerable to developing anxiety or depression, later in life, Kalin said.
Since nearly 70 percent of the variation isn’t genetic, Kalin said there is ample hope for treatment and intervention.
“This now focuses us on very early childhood, to be thinking about alterations in brain function in children and ideally to be developing ideas that are new about what we can do to help kids that have this brain overactivity,” said Kalin.
