They took mice without the Tob gene and injected this gene into the hippocampus, while leaving it nonexistent in other parts of the body. Through an MRI, they found that the connectivity between two key places regulating brain’s stress resilience was altered when the Tob gene was removed-the hippocampus and the pre-frontal cortex.įrom there, the researchers decided to look at the specific role that the gene plays within the hippocampus. Hiroaki Hamada from the Neural Computational Unit. The researchers then teamed up with OIST’s former PhD student Dr. But those without the Tob gene still showed increased levels of fear observed as freezing, even after several days. Youssef explained that when mice are put day-after-day in a place which evokes fear memory, they normally learn that it isn’t so bad and stop being as frightened. What’s more, the mice without the Tob gene didn’t seem to learn. This lack of will to fight a difficult situation is one way that researchers determine that an animal is depressed. However, a mouse without the Tob gene simply floated. For example, when a mouse with the Tob gene was placed in a bucket of water, they would swim and try to escape. They then used mice which had been born without a Tob gene and found an increase in depression, fear, and anxiety. Their conclusion that this gene is linked to anxiety, fear, and depression was drawn from several different experiments.įirst, the researchers exposed mice to stress and, as expected, saw the Tob protein levels increase. “Although it was previously suspected, this research is the first work that clarifies that Tob has a function in the brain against stress.” “The Tob gene is related to many different phenomena but working on the brain system is particularly challenging,” said Prof. Youssef said that this has resulted in the gene being classed as an immediate-early gene, as it has such a fast response. This is because when the cell is exposed to a stimulus, its protein levels jump in activity. Tob is named for the Japanese verb “tobu”, which means to fly or to jump. “The presence of the gene helps with stress-resilience and if it’s removed, there’s an increase in depression, fear, and anxiety.” Mohieldin Youssef, former PhD student in OIST’s Cell Signal Unit, which is led by Prof. “This research is about understanding stress-resilience,” explained lead author, Dr. Their work was published by the journal Translational Psychiatry. Now, in a multidisciplinary study that combines molecular biology with neuroscience, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have found that this gene also plays an important role in reducing depression, fear, and anxiety. Previous research has also indicated that it has a hand in regulating the cell cycle and the body’s immune response. Tadashi Yamamoto’s former lab in Japan in 1996, the gene Tob is well known for the role it plays in cancer. The findings could have positive implications for developing new treatments for disorders associated with psychiatric stress.įirst characterized in Prof. Longitudinal studies should be developed in order to provide an in-depth examination of the course of prepartum psychiatric disorders, maintenance of symptoms and their impact on subsequent infant development.Įpidural anesthesia Fear of childbirth Prepartum Pretraumatic stress Tokophobia.Summary: The TOB gene plays a significant role in reducing depression, anxiety, and fear in mouse models. Given the high rates of FOC and tokophobia highlighted, developing an appropriate preparation to childbirth is of great relevance. Planning an epidural anesthesia was also an independent predictor of both FOC and tokophobia (β = 1.33, p = 0.03 β = 1.26, p = 0.04, respectively). Planning a c-section was significantly related to FOC (β = 0.09, p = 0.03). Epidural anesthesia (ß = 5.62, p < 0.05), and the intensity of pretraumatic stress symptoms (ß= 0.69, p < 0.05), were independently associated with the intensity of FOC symptoms. Socio-demographic and gynecological data were also gathered.Ģ2.45% of women reported a probable FOC and 20.41% suffered from a potential tokophobia. The aim of the current study was threefold: (a) to identify the prevalence rates of women suffering from fear of childbirth (FOC) and tokophobia (b) to explore the association between FOC, obstetrical and psychopathological variables and (c) to identify the independent predictors of the intensity of FOC symptoms, FOC and tokophobia.Īt 36 weeks' gestation, 98 women completed questionnaires assessing FOC, pretraumatic stress, fear of pain, depressive and anxiety symptomatology as well as perceived social support. Given that prepartum psychiatric symptoms have been reported to be associated with postpartum disorders, focusing on the prepartum period appears of prime importance.
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