Study: Key Differences in How Male & Female Brains Process Threats

The AHA! Team — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 05:25:35 +0000

McGill University via News-Medical – A new study has uncovered significant differences in how male and female mice process threats, even as they exhibit similar behavioral responses. The discovery suggests that including both male and female subjects in neuroscience research will lead to more accurate conclusions and ultimately better health outcomes. Understanding the influence of sex on brain function can help explain why males and females develop certain psychiatric disorders at different rates or with different symptoms, the researchers said. “Unless we thoughtfully and rigorously integrate sex into biomedical research, a huge amount of the population may be underserved by scientific knowledge,” said McGill University Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Neurogenomics Rosemary Bagot, who led the study. “Our work shows that sex is an important variable to consider, even if initial observations don’t necessarily show clear sex differences. If males and females are using different brain circuits to solve similar problems, they may be differently vulnerable to stress and respond differently to treatments.” Rosemary Bagot, Associate Professor, McGill University How brain circuits process threats and cues The study focused on two related brain circuits and their roles in processing information about threats and the cues that predict them. The researchers trained mice to recognize a sound that signaled a threat and another sound that meant safety. By observing brain activity, the team saw how communication between different brain areas processed these signals. Then, they temporarily turned off each brain connection to see how it affected the mice’s reactions, helping them understand how the brain handles threats. “We found that even though male and female mice respond similarly to threats, the brain circuits underlying these responses are not the same,” Bagot said. For female mice, a connection between two specific brain areas (the medial prefrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens) played a key role. The study found that in male mice, a different connection (between the ventral hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens) was more important for handling the same situation. It was previously assumed that similar behavior meant similar brain function. Now, the researchers are exploring how sex impacts brain circuits in processing threats, focusing on the role of sex hormones and different learning strategies. This research is supported by funding from CIHR. Source: McGill University Journal reference: Muir, J., et al. (2024). Sex-biased neural encoding of threat discrimination in nucleus accumbens afferents drives suppression of reward behavior. Nature Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01748-7. To read the original article click here.

The post Study: Key Differences in How Male & Female Brains Process Threats appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Study Identifies Underlying Illness and Additional Risk Factors for Severe COVID-19 or Death

AHA Publisher — Mon, 25 May 2020 07:00:30 +0000

BMJ via Newswise – Age, male sex, obesity, and underlying illness have emerged as risk factors for severe covid-19 or death in the UK, according to the largest cohort study to date published by The BMJ today. The risk of death increases in the over 50s, as does being being male, obese, or having underlying heart, lung, liver and kidney disease. As the largest prospective observational study reported worldwide to date, it provides a comprehensive picture of the characteristics of patients hospitalised in the UK with covid-19 and their outcomes. Because the study is ongoing, it has now recruited over 43,000 patients. The findings will help health professionals learn more about how the illness progresses and enable us to compare the UK with other countries, say the researchers. Studies in China have reported risk factors associated with severe covid-19, but studies describing the features and outcomes of patients with severe covid-19 who have been admitted to hospital in Europe are lacking. To address this knowledge gap, a team of UK researchers analysed data from 20,133 patients with covid-19 admitted to 208 acute care hospitals in England, Wales, and Scotland between 6 February and 19 April 2020. This represents around a third of all patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 in the UK. The average age of patients in the study was 73 years, and more men (12,068; 60%) were admitted to hospital than women (8,065; 40%). Additional Risk Factors Besides increasing age, and underlying heart, lung, liver and kidney disease – factors already known to cause poor outcomes – the researchers found that obesity and gender were key factors associated with the need for higher levels of care and higher risk of death in hospital. At the time of publication, just over a quarter (26%) of all covid-19 patients in hospital had died, 54% were discharged alive, and a third (34%) remained in hospital. Outcomes were poorer for those requiring mechanical ventilation: 37% had died, 17% had been discharged alive, and 46% remained in hospital. The pattern of disease we describe broadly reflects the pattern reported globally, say the researchers. However, obesity is a major additional risk factor that was not highlighted in data from China. They suspect that reduced lung function or inflammation associated with obesity may play a role. Learning to Manage Future Cases This is an observational study, so can’t establish cause, and the researchers point to some limitations that may have affected their results. Nevertheless, they say this is the largest study of its kind outside of China and clearly shows that severe covid-19 leads to a prolonged hospital stay and a high mortality rate. “Our study identifies sectors of the population that are at greatest risk of a poor outcome, and shows the importance of forward planning and investment in preparedness studies,” they write. These results have already been shared with the UK Government and World Health Organisation, and are being compared with data from other countries around the world. At the outset of the covid-19 pandemic, it was natural to focus first on the people with severe disease who might need potentially scarce resources in hospital and intensive care, write US researchers in a linked editorial. Cohort studies of such patients are important, they say, and this study is a testament to good planning and preparation before, and implementation of data collection during a pandemic. But they add that if we are going to be managing covid-19 for the next several years, “we need to understand and optimize care before, during, and beyond the hospital.” To read the original article click here.

The post Study Identifies Underlying Illness and Additional Risk Factors for Severe COVID-19 or Death appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

male Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Study: Key Differences in How Male & Female Brains Process Threats

Study Identifies Underlying Illness and Additional Risk Factors for Severe COVID-19 or Death