CRC TRR 58 - Fear, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders

Basic data for this project

Description

Fear and anxiety are crucial adaptive components of the behavioural repertoire that are generated in anticipation of or in response to stimuli which threaten to perturb homeostasis. Anxiety-related states appear to represent part of a universal survival strategy of the organism, with inter-individual variation reflecting an evolutionary principle related to the survival of the individual population. Extreme variation or perturbation of these mechanisms can lead to disproportional and prolonged (even irreversible) states, which are, for instance, experienced as excessive, persistent or generalized anxiety. This sort of maladaptive anxiety, generally, reflects an underlying pathology, an anxiety disorder, requiring treatment. These are common diseases with a lifetime prevalence of about 25%, imposing a major challenge to health care and economy. Scientific goal The aim of the transregional collaborative research centre SFB TRR 58 is to concentrate expertise in the fields of molecular biology, genetics, neurophysiology, psychology, psychiatry and neuroimaging, in order to provide a better understanding of the mechanistic basis of anxiety states and disorders. The expertise of the participating institutions from the universities of Münster, Hamburg, Mainz and Würzburg is largely complementary, and forms the basis of a two-step interdisciplinary scientific concept. Scientific Concept In a first step, “established” candidate genes, pathways and paradigms are used, in order to ensure maximal control of experimental conditions, and to construct links between animal and human studies. The major goal is to provide mechanistic explanations of selected components of fear responsiveness, including perception, acquisition and specifically extinction of fear, with particular reference to clinical relevance. In a second step, “novel” innovative genes are identified under these controlled experimental conditions and are tested as candidate genes using the established experimental paradigms to underscore their biological relevance. As a corollary of this dual strategy and a second long term goal, risk profiles will be sharpened based upon improved understanding of the neurobiological, genetic and environmental substrates, which, in turn will pave the way for individually tailored therapy.