Zhen Yan will study whether the loss of key signaling molecules can mediate the transition from the positive effects of stress to its negative effects.
Yan Receives $2 Million Grant to Study How Stress Affects the Brain
Published January 14, 2016 This content is archived.
story based on news release by ellen goldbaum
Zhen Yan, PhD, professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, has received a five-year, $2 million grant to explore the impact of stress on cognition and mental function.
Exploring How Stress’ Positive Effects Turn Negative
The grant — from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health — allows Yan to build on her previous investigations into the effects of stress on neuronal communication and function.
“If you are exposed to short-term stress, you are more alert, more focused and will perform tasks better,” she says. “But with repeated stress exposure, you start to have diminished performance from wear and tear on the body and brain.
“We want to understand how these positive effects of stress get switched to negative effects.”
Looking to Enzyme’s Role in Chronic Stress
Yan and her colleagues will explore whether the loss of key signaling molecules can mediate this transition.
The loss of these signaling molecules could result from the upregulation of an enzyme produced in response to prolonged stress.
“We will examine whether inhibiting that enzyme may be a potential therapeutic strategy for ameliorating the deleterious effects of chronic stress on cognitive and mental function,” Yan says.
Compounds Could Alleviate Stress Disorders
Yan and her colleagues also will study a family of compounds, used in cancer treatment, that can rescue the physiological and behavioral deficits induced by repeated stress.
They will investigate these and related compounds as potential therapies for stress-related disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.