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MIT Finds Cure For Fear

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the fear-itself dept.

Doom con runs away writes "MIT biochemists have identified a molecular mechanism behind fear, and successfully cured it in mice, according to an article in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They did this by inhibiting a kinase, an enzyme that change proteins, called Cdk5, which facilitates the extinction of fear learned in a particular context."

11 of 523 comments (clear)

  1. Cdk5 Inhibition != Fearless by Stefanwulf · · Score: 5, Informative

    As I read this article, it isn't about making something fearless or preventing fear...it's more about increasing the rate at which a learned fear response decays in the absence of reinforcement. Essentially, the brain has built in mechanisms to "cure" fear on its own, given enough time without reinforcement of that particular fear. Inhibition of this enzyme--oddly enough one linked with plasticity and neural development--makes that process easier/faster.

    If I understand correctly, then they are right in saying this would be potentially wonderful for treating cases of PTSD where the fear response does not significantly decrease even at points in time far removed from the initial trauma, but I don't think we have to worry about inhibition of this enzyme erasing people's ability to feel fear or leading to fear-based weapons systems. Those things are almost certainly possible (lesions on the amygdala are thought to tame animals by destroying their ability to feel fear), but I don't think they'll appear as a result of this study.

  2. Re:uh oh... by Belacgod · · Score: 3, Informative
    You read it here.

    The problem is, very few people in the Islamic world are polygamous anymore. Maybe a few rich Afghans, Sudanese, or Saudis, but they represent a tiny fraction of all Muslims. Polygamy has vanished in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, North Africa, Iran, Indonesia...

    As with most religions, Islamic practice has little to do nowadays with its historical theology. Western writers who only know a little bit about the latter and nothing about the former just make themselves look like idiots.

  3. This is about PTSD fear, not combat fear. by spun · · Score: 2, Informative

    Read the article. This is about extinguishing learned fear, such as post traumatic stress disorder. This is not a drug that controls fear in the present moment. It has absolutely nothing to do with either situation you mention.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  4. Bzzt! Wrong. by spun · · Score: 5, Informative

    The first post is more correct, as the drug might actually apply in a situation involving girls. The drug treats learned fear, not the innate fear of combat. It will be used to help control post traumatic stress disorder. Arguably, fear of women is a learned fear similar to PTSD.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:Bzzt! Wrong. by ChromaticDragon · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm willing to cast a bit of doubt on the "innate" fear of strangers.

      Do a bit of research on "attachment disorder" as it pertains to adopted children. Very often, young children when adopted demonstrate very little fear of strangers. Most of this is due to the fact that they have no attachment, per se, to their new family. Indeed, the root of this problem is that they may have never yet formed any deep attachment whatsoever. So, to them there is no inherent difference between their family and strangers. It's not that they fear and distrust everyone. It's more normal that they fear no one. They'll gleefully go home with anyone.

      It's not at all uncommon for adoptive parents to have to train their new children with regards to "fear of strangers".

    2. Re:Bzzt! Wrong. by Gulthek · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, we get into a complex area, here -- one that this drug will no doubt make much clearer as it becomes clinically available.

      I agree that some children fear heights. Neither of mine did, however.

      That depends on the age of the children. Infants (6-18 months) will gleefully crawl off of heights not because they aren't afraid, but because their underdeveloped eyes and visual reasoning can't see the depth of the fall. After that, if you have a kid who dives off of heights you should feel proud, scared, and may want to consider gymnastics classes so they'll at least know how to fall correctly. :-)

    3. Re:Bzzt! Wrong. by jasen666 · · Score: 2, Informative

      You're speaking of children older than infants/toddlers? A baby will become attached to whomever is taking care of it fairly quickly.

    4. Re:Bzzt! Wrong. by rilian4 · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Bologna. Children fear heights from a very early age."

      Bologna yourself!! I was climbing very high trees at the age of 3(Ceder tree w/ a low branch let me get started). This is from my mother. I had no fear of heights whatsoever. I distinctly remember being in that tree between the ages of 4-6 and getting chewed out by my mom and not understanding why she was so upset (imagine your young kid, 20-30 feet up in a tree..and no I am not exaggerating the height, I asked my mom and dad how high that tree was..they told me). I felt perfectly at home at those heights. Don't tell me all children are afraid of heights. Ironically enough, my mother had no fear of heights *until* she had children of her own.

      -rilian

      --

      ...quicker, easier, more seductive the darkside is...but more powerful, it is not.
    5. Re:Bzzt! Wrong. by shoemilk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Bologna. Children fear heights from a very early age. Depending on temperament, they also fear strangers, from a very early age. These are not learned fears. They are innate. There was a show here in Japan where they were comparing toddlers to monkeys and doing various tests. One of the tests was "fear of hieght" They set up two platforms and a transparent bridge between the two. They then placed the toddlers on one and their favorite toy on the other. Every single child got the toy. They then followed it up with the parent standing behind the far post. They had half the parents smiled and clap when the kid reached the bridge and the child crawled on to their parent. The other half frowned and made worried faces and the kids stopped and wouldn't continue on despite being called by their parents. Fear of heights is learned. Every fear is learned from infancy on. "Innate" fears, I'm sorry, do not exist.
  5. For all those who haven't read TFA by edraven · · Score: 2, Informative

    The experiment demonstrated the ability to block a learned fear reaction where the subject experiences fear when exposed to circumstances in which unpleasant stimuli were previously present. This is not about inhibitting the fear reaction to currently present stimuli. So no super-soldiers or serial killers here, move along.

  6. The ACTUAL Article... by martin_henry · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...can be found here:

    http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/trauma-0715.htm l

    --
    www.purevolume.com/martyd