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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Fear Factor"
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(90 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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BE AFRAID; BE VERY AFRAID... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. WHAT DO WE FEAR? SPIDERS? HEIGHTS? AUDITS? THE DARK? FLYING? FAILURE? FEAR ITSELF? THIS IS LESS ABOUT WHAT WE FEAR--AND MORE ABOUT HOW WE LEARN TO FEAR. SOME FEAR MICE. BUT, RESEARCHERS AT EMORY UNIVERSITY ENLISTED THEM IN A STUDY TO HELP PINPOINT "BETA-CATENIN"--A PROTEIN THAT DRIVES STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN BRAIN CELLS, AS LONG-TERM MEMORIES ARE CREATED. YOU HAVE FEAR--AND THE MEMORY OF THINGS THAT MAKE YOU FEARFUL; THIS PROTEIN COULD HOLD THE KEY TO TREATMENTS TO EITHER ENHANCE OR INTERFERE WITH THAT MEMORY-FORMATION. EVERY TIME THAT THE MICE WERE GIVEN A MILD SHOCK, IT WAS PRECEDED BY A SPECIFIC AUDIO TONE; EVENTUALLY, THE MICE ASSOCIATED THE TONE WITH THE SHOCK--AND WOULD RESPOND BY FREEZING, UPON HEARING THE TONE. THE RESEARCHERS WERE ABLE TO INTRODUCE A VIRUS THAT SHUT DOWN "BETA-CATENIN" PRODUCTION IN THE MICE BRAINS; WITHOUT THE PROTEIN, THE MICE COULD STILL LEARN TO FEAR THE TONE--BUT, TWO DAYS LATER, SEEMED TO FORGET TO FEAR IT. SOMEDAY, MEDICATIONS THAT CONTROL PRODUCTION OF THIS KEY PROTEIN IN THE BRAIN COULD HELP TREAT CONDITIONS RANGING FROM ALZHEIMER'S TO "POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER"--AND POSSIBLY EVEN ACTIVITIES LIKE TUMOR-FORMATION--GOING FROM A PLACE OF FEAR, TO ONE OF HOPE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
