Researchers at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom have identified a specific protein generated by the brain in response to stress. Their findings could help boost understanding of stress-related psychiatric diseases in people, particularly in knowing how the human brain deals with stress and how it eases its impact.

A study funded in part by a Marie Curie Excellence Grant under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and made by researchers at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom have identified a specific protein generated by the brain in response to stress. These findings could help protect people from 'too much anxiety' and give organisms the help they need to deal with negative life events is a groundbreaking result of the study.

In particular scientists from Leicester's Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmacology investigated 'thin' and 'mushroom-like' parts of nerve cells in the brain that play a critical role in our learning and remembering processes. According to the researchers, people can tweak what they remember, thus mitigating the stress of painful memories.

More than a third of the human population is affected by stress-related psychological and mental disturbances, according to the researchers. Thanks to scientists finding, could help boost our understanding of stress-related psychiatric diseases in people, particularly in knowing how the human brain deals with stress and how it eases its impact. Their next plan of action is to determine whether the mechanisms they identified can be used to inform clinical strategies to manage anxiety disorders and depression.