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THIS IS NOT FOR ME. The only carbon therapy I want is quiet isolation with friends, by campfire at night, in a forest and with a clear starry sky, discussing life and death and eternal life.
Stop now if you don’t want your typical response of “conspiracy theory!” to be PERMANENTLY DISABLED AND UNUSEABLE AGAIN.
“Soothing the symptoms of anxiety with graphene oxide”
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Spotlight: Audrey Franceschi Biagioni uses graphene to alleviate mental health disorders Audrey Franceschi Biagioni is investigating whether graphene flakes could help to alleviate psychological disorders related to the human fear response, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
What made you choose a career in science? How did you get started on your current research project?
After obtaining my bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Science, I decided to pursue a career in research because I wanted to learn more about the functionality of the brain. I am fascinated by the way chemical signals work to control our behaviour, and I am especially interested in understanding the ways in which neurochemical dysfunctions can lead to psychiatric and neurologic diseases.
My research focuses on the application of graphene oxide flakes in an animal model of post-traumatic stress disorder. I study brain circuits underlying fear and stress, and I am excited to discover how graphene and layered materials can be engineered to interact with brain networks.
Can you explain your project a bit more?
Neurotransmitters, chemical substances produced by neurons, allow brain cells to communicate with each other by acting at specific binding sites – exactly like a lock-and-key system. Only the right key (the neurotransmitter) can open and close a specific lock (the binding site). If a neurotransmitter fits into a binding site, it can modulate certain associated brain activities. In particular, graphene oxide flakes can interact with binding sites of glutamatergic neurons and decrease their activity.
More specifically, a region of the brain that coordinates fear, called the amygdala, is hyperactive under certain pathological conditions, such as in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), because excitatory neurotransmitters have opened up many locks in this area of the brain. As a result, people experience intense fear, nightmares and traumatic flashbacks.
The goal of my research is to use graphene to interrupt the brain excitatory activity under these pathological conditions. In the laboratory, the PTSD-like behaviour can be provoked in rats by triggering their natural fear of cats: when rats smell cat odor, their amygdala becomes hyperactive. We hypothesized that the interaction of graphene with specific neurons in the rats’ amygdalas may prevent the PTSD-related behavioral responses.
How can our society benefit from this?
Graphene oxide flakes have the potential to promote advancement in drug development due to their small size as well as their structural and functional properties. Evidence showing that graphene oxide has an effective impact on the neuronal network led to the hypothesis that appropriate graphene-based technologies could be used as alternative therapeutics for mental health disorders.
This approach would represent a significant advantage over existing therapies. However, I also believe it is necessary to keep up with fundamental studies in order to employ graphene oxide for clinical applications.
Sources:
https://english.lokmat.com/technology/study-shows-influence-of-graphene-nanoparticles-on-neurons/
“Tom and Jerry – the cat “makes” the mouse uncomfortable. Graphene flakes could help to alleviate psychological disorders related to the human fear response, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Source: https://graphene-flagship.eu/graphene/news/soothing-the-symptoms-of-anxiety-with-graphene-oxide/
The scientists used a common animal model: just like in the classic cartoon Tom and Jerry, a mouse lives in a hole in the wall of a small room, where it feels protected and safe. Normally, the mouse explores the room freely and without worry. But when the mouse smells a cat, it runs back into its hole, where it knows it is safe. This is a very strong defensive behaviour and the basis for the fight or flight response, which is intrinsic to most animals.
After one week in this environment, the mouse remembers this behaviour, even after the cat’s scent has gone. This is a model for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a protective anxiety behaviour that arises in response to negative memories. Millions of people around the world suffer from disorders related to PTSD or anxiety.
“Two days after injecting graphene oxide into a specific region of the mouse’s brain, it behaved like other mice that had never experienced the smell of a cat in their home environment. In other words, graphene oxide inhibited the mouse’s anxiety-related behaviour,” Ballerini explains.
<div>Sources:</div><div>
https://graphene-flagship.eu/graphene/news/?tagName=Biomedical
https://graphene-flagship.eu/graphene/news/soothing-the-symptoms-of-anxiety-with-graphene-oxide/
https://graphene-flagship.eu/research/publications
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