Project Summary

Xia Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., (Independent Investigator 2006) of the University of Saskatchewan, will seek to understand how anxiety disorders originate and develop by studying one gene, responsible for encoding the cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein (CPEB), a protein which is over-activated in high anxiety rats and under-activated in low anxiety rats. Anxiety includes both normal anxiety and pathological anxiety (anxiety disorders). Normal anxiety is an adaptive response to potentially threatening situations, while pathological anxiety is defined as an anxiety response that occurs out of proportion to the threat, becomes disruptive to daily life, and causes suffering. Anxiety disorders can be divided into five major diagnoses: generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, panic disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. Many of the symptoms of the major diagnoses overlap, and many of the disorders respond to the same treatment highlighting underlying commonalities between disorders. Ample evidence implicates specific regions of the brain in generating fear and anxiety. Dr. Zhang’s preliminary studies identified over 1000 genes inappropriately activated in the brain of high or low anxiety rats. These results led to the central hypothesis of this project that reducing and increasing CPEB in the rat brain can alleviate and aggravate anxiety, respectively. To test this, he will determine if reducing CPEB in high anxiety rats alleviates anxiety; and if increasing CPED in low anxiety rats aggravates anxiety. An increased understanding of how anxiety disorders originate and develop will aid in improved diagnosis and treatment.

Program Area: ANXIETY DISORDERS\Anxiety Disorder

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