There is comforting news for bullied kids: You are not alone. Mice don't enjoy being bullied either. When picked on they become withdrawn and fearful and exhibit intimidated behavior, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
The study, published Friday in the journal Science, concluded that blocking the expression of a gene in the mice's brain reversed the effects of social intimidation.
The results of the study could be helpful in a number of ways, including treatment in cases involving traumatic experiences, according to UT psychology lecturer Juan Salinas, who said the results of this experiment could help treating people who had experienced recent cases of trauma, but most likely not long-term trauma.
"It's probably not a magic bullet, but it is a starting point," Salinas said.
The researchers, led by Dr. Eric Nestler, chairman of psychiatry, and Dr. Olivier Berton, an instructor in the UT Southwestern Psychiatry Department, exposed mice to daily "bullying" by larger, more aggressive mice for 10 days. At the end of this time frame they were found to be docile and unwilling to approach unfamiliar mice.
To remedy this behavior, an injection was given to the mice that blocked the expression of the gene, known as the brain-derived neurotrophic factor. The effect was much like that of an antidepressant: Mice did not behave in a socially intimidated manner.
"Without BNDF in the circuit, an animal can't learn that a social stimulus is threatening and respond appropriately," Nestler said in an interview with the National Institute of Mental Health, which sponsored the study.
Nestler concluded that "chronic treatment with antidepressants restores social approach behavior partly by interfering with the cascade of activity triggered by BNDF."
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