Study of Angry Mice Could Find Drugs to Prevent Pathological Rage

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - 15:30 in Health & Medicine

I Will Have My Revenge Wikimedia Commons Shutting down a brain receptor in mice - a receptor that also exists in humans - can block pathological rage, a new study says. We didn't realize that mice could experience pathological rage. But stopping it, and the impulsive violence that could result, would be a way to treat the types of aggression that are common in some neurological and psychological disorders in people. Previous research showed that low levels of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase A is involved in aggression. If MAO sounds familiar, it may be because of MAOI, monoamine oxidase inhibitors. MAOs catalyze the uptake of serotonin, and inhibiting them can be used to fight depression. MAOIs are also used to treat anxiety, migraines and even Parkinson's. MAOs are naturally occurring enyzmes, and mice (and men) who lack them respond violently to stress. This is especially true when the lack...

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