Sponsored Links
Main Menu
Treatment
Self Tests
OCD
- Facts about OCD
- OCD Questions & Answers
- YBOCS: Yale-Brown OCD Scale
- Sexual Obsessions
- Hoarding & Saving OCD
- Washing & Cleaning
- Homosexuality Anxiety
- Christians & OCD
- Medication for OCD
- Combining Medication for OCD
- CBT Therapy for OCD
- Therapy for Kids with OCD
- OCD & African Americans
- Herbal Remedies for OCD
- Brain Surgery for OCD
- Treatment Resistant OCD
- OCD & Depression
- Real People's OCD Stories
- Online Therapy for OCD
Spectrum Disorders
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Tourette Syndrome
- Hypochondria
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder
- Depersonalization Disorder
- Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling)
- Compulsive Skin Picking
- Nail Biting
- Deliberate Self-Harm
- Olfactory Reference Syndrome
- Sexual Compulsions
- Compulsive Gambling
- Kleptomania
- Eating Disorders
- Obsessive Compulsive Personality
- Autistic Disorder
Anxiety & Mood
- Panic Disorder
- Panic Attacks
- Social Anxiety & Phobia
- Taijin Kyofusho
- Specific Phobias
- Generalized Anxiety
- Traumatic Stress Disorders
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder
- OCD & Bipolar
- Depression & God
Eating Disorders and Body Image
A protein may be key to behavioral flexibility
A protein may be the key to maintain behavioral flexibility. This protein called PERK enables people to change their behavior to adjust to circumstances similar to events they have experienced in the past. This discovery could help people with autism and schizophrenia, diseases that are notable for impairing the ability to adjust behavior.
We all have stored memories that inform us at to expectations. Certain things have happened in the past and with similar circumstances will again. When some variable changes, our thoughts must adjust and come up with a reasonable alternative. This kind of behavior requires a certain amount of flexibility. That flexibility is partially driven by protein synthesis which produces experience dependent changes in neural function and behavior.
For some people, like schizophrenics and autistic persons, this process is impaired. Researchers set out to find how protein synthesis is regulated during behavioral flexibility and focused on the kinase PERK, an enzyme that regulates protein synthesis and that modifies elF2alpha, a factor required for protein synthesis.
The team used lab mice for their experiments. One group of mice had the PERK enzyme and another did not. The mice were taught to go through a maze then the maze was changed. The mice with PERK were able to solve the problem; the mice without either could not do it, or took much longer to accomplish the task.
This and other experiments led the researchers to believe that the absence of PERK may contribute to impaired flexibility in neurological disorders. Further studies may provide better treatments for people with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Fragile X as well as schizophrenia and autism.
Source: MedicalNewsToday, Cell Reports
OCD Self Test
Do you or a loved one feel like you might have a problem with OCD?
Take the Self Test now to get more information.
Sponsored Links
The information provided on brainphysics.com is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her health professional. This information is solely for informational and educational purposes. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Neither the owners or employees of brainphysics.com nor the author(s) of site content take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading this site. Always speak with your primary health care provider before engaging in any form of self treatment. Click here to read our complete Terms of Use.
Call Now—Help Available 24/7 (877) 331-9311
Sign up for our newsletter to receive mental health Information & Inspiration
Sponsored Links
You May Also Want To Read
Other People Are Also Reading
Online Support Groups
SupportGroups.com provides a support network for those facing life's challenges. Click on the following links to get a helping hand in a confidential, caring environment.
Call Now—Help Available 24/7 (877) 331-9311