Brain connections for stress — lessons from the worm

Pioneering work by Roger Pocock, a newly arrived Group Leader at the research centre BRIC, University of Copenhagen, reveals the remarkable ability of organisms to activate latent neuronal circuits under stressful conditions. It is suggested that such circuits form part of an escape response that enables animals to sense their environment and adapt their behaviour under unfavourable conditions. This work is being published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on April 18 th*.

The human brain contains billions of neurons that build trillions of connections making it very complex to study behaviour at the level of the single neuron. Therefore, the Pocock laboratory uses the simple nervous system of the microscopic worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, to model how our environment modifies gene function, neuronal circuitry and behaviour. Using C. elegans, which contains just 302 neurons, Dr Pocock has identified a hidden neuronal circuit that modulates sensory perception under stress. Specifically, this work discovered that physiological detection of hypoxic (low oxygen) stress results in the activation of a hidden neuronal circuit involving the neuromodulators serotonin and the neuropeptide Y receptor.

This work implicates that mechanisms coupling hypoxia, serotonin and neuropeptide signaling also modifies behaviour in mammals. In fact, hypoxic stress enhances serotonin and neuropeptide production in specific regions of the mammalian brain, however, the functional output of this is poorly understood.

Roger Pocock did the experiments for this article at Columbia University, New York, where he worked as a researcher before coming to Denmark. He has previously published novel findings in Nature Neuroscience and his strong research potential within this field was essential for his recruitment as a Group Leader at BRIC.

“These and other studies in the burgeoning field of environment-gene-neuron interactions will hopefully enable us to better understand how to cope with stress in our every-changing and busy lives” says Roger Pocock.

As Charles Darwin himself said 'Man is but a worm'!

* Hypoxia activates a latent circuit for processing gustatory information in C. elegans. Roger Pocock & Oliver Hobert.

Media Contact

Katrine Sonne-Hansen EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.bric.ku.dk

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Trotting robots reveal emergence of animal gait transitions

A four-legged robot trained with machine learning by EPFL researchers has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking – a milestone for roboticists as well…

Innovation promises to prevent power pole-top fires

Engineers in Australia have found a new way to make power-pole insulators resistant to fire and electrical sparking, promising to prevent dangerous pole-top fires and reduce blackouts. Pole-top fires pose…

Possible alternative to antibiotics produced by bacteria

Antibacterial substance from staphylococci discovered with new mechanism of action against natural competitors. Many bacteria produce substances to gain an advantage over competitors in their highly competitive natural environment. Researchers…

Partners & Sponsors