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Northwest Biotherapeutics Announces Keynote Presentation on Harnessing Immunity: A Personalized, Multi-Target Approach to Cancer At the UK National Health Service Annual Oncology Conference
/PRNewswire/ -- Northwest Biotherapeutics (OTCQB:NWBO) (the "Company" or "NWBio"), a biotechnology company developing DCVax® personalized immune therapies for...
2026’s Biggest Blockbuster Games Just Received Their First Major Discounts in Amazon’s Prime Sale, but These 48-Hour Deals Won’t Last Long
Amazon's latest Prime Day sale features massive discounts on PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox titles, including deals on 2026's biggest games like The Blood of Dawnwalker, Star Wars: Zero Company, Pragmata, LEGO Batman, and more.
NFL suspends official Jeff Seeman for two games for swearing at Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride
The NFL suspended two officials for separate incidents on Sunday, including Jeff Seeman after he was caught swearing at Arizonas Trey McBride; watch the second NFL London game of the season between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles at 2.30pm Sunday, live on Sky Sports
Critical Atlassian Flaw Lets Unauthenticated Attackers Read Known Files Across 8 Products
Atlassian fixes a critical path traversal in 8 Data Center products that lets unauthenticated attackers read files if exact paths are known.
Nobel Prize in physics to be awarded in Stockholm
The Nobel Prize in physics will be announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Nobel Prize in Physics to Be Awarded in Stockholm
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel Prize in physics will be announced Tuesday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Last year, three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for research on the strange behavior of subatomic particles called quantum tunneling that enabled the ...
Switching on brain cells: The Nobel-winning science of optogenetics
In optogenetics, scientists control neurons by stimulating them with light—potentially unlocking breakthroughs for conditions such as dementia, depression and blindness.
Sony Music Publishing to administer El Reino Infantil’s music catalog worldwide in Leader Entertainment
The partnership aims to expand the reach of El Reino Infantil across new audiences, formats, and markets, the companies said.
A Patient and Doctor Weigh the Pros and Cons of Genetic Testing
Genetic testing, a heart scan and a blood test gave Ron Carr unexpected answers about Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular risk.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for Oct. 6, 2026, puzzle No. 743
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Former Lions Veteran Edge Rusher Released By Ben Johnson’s Bears
Things aren’t going swimmingly right now for the Detroit Lions, who recently dropped their Sunday evening contest against the Carolina Panthers to drop to 2-2 through the first four games of the campaign.While their offense is clicking, their defense has been woeful, and more closely resembles the defensive issues experienced by the 0-16 2008 edition […] The post Former Lions Veteran Edge Rusher Released By Ben Johnson’s Bears appeared first on HEAVY.
Vance says Alaska project will proceed after Trump warns Korea
Vice President JD Vance said an Alaska natural gas project with South Korea will move forward even as Seoul said its participation remains conditional on the venture being economically viable.
NYT Strands hints, answers for October 6, 2026
Every hint, nudge and outright answer you need to complete today's NYT Strands puzzle.
Nintendo Releases 'Hello, Peach!' And 'Hello, Luigi!' App For Switch & Mobile Devices
It's also revealed a 'My Mario Melody Car'
Digital Science appoints Charlesworth as strategic sales partner of Altmetric and Dimensions in China’s scholarly publishing sector
AsiaNet 201874
Switch 2 Japanese-Language System ‘Choose-Your-Game Bundle’ launches November 12 in Japan
Nintendo will release the Switch 2 Japanese-Language System (Japan Only) Choose-Your-Game Bundle on November 12 in Japan for 63,980 yen, the company announced.
Reds May Have Stumbled Into a Valuable Piece at the Trade Deadline
By flipping rental Nate Lowe for utility prospect Juan Brito, Cincinnati may have secured a versatile switch-hitter ready to spark the 2027 roster after a blistering debut.
The Xbox Elite Controller (Series 3) specs might've leaked — here's what's new (and the main thing you'll want to know remains unanswered)
Although I was unable to verify the sources (as they've been removed), users suggest that this leak is most likely legit. The Xbox Elite Controller Series 3 is likely imminent.
Canonsburg reviews business growth in workshop
Canonsburg officials and business leaders met last week to review the past six years of economic growth and plan for the future. The borough has seen a marked upswing in downtown business growth in recent years thanks to targeted redevelopment efforts, local business associations and a focus on diverse local events to drive customer traffic. […]
This Weekend in Gators Sports: Tennis Wins Big, Swim and Dive Stays Perfect
Florida swimming and diving and men’s tennis posted strong results on the road over the weekend. Gators men’s tennis returned to Gainesville stamping 15 wins on the weekend at the three-day Bedford Cup hosted by UCF, while Florida men’s and women’s swim and dive remained undefeated against Kentucky 31-0 all time. Men’s Tennis: Doubles Title […]
New Editorial Calls for Investing in Hospital Nursing Workforce to Address Health Impacts of Extreme Heat
Hospitals should make nurse staffing and supportive nurse work environments a core part of extreme heat emergency preparedness, according to a new editorial from Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR), as record-breaking temperatures and heat-related emergency department visits continue to rise across the United States. The editorial appears in Public Health Nursing.
UCLA Health awarded $4M NIH grant to study why ulcerative colitis symptoms persist after inflammation subsides
UCLA Health gastroenterologist Lin Chang and Dr. Bruce Sands of Mount Sinai were awarded a $4 million federal grant to investigate why some ulcerative colitis patients continue to experience irritable bowel syndrome-like symptoms even after inflammation has subsided.
Sacramento’s Aftershock music festival draws record crowd during sweltering weekend
Festival organizers said attendance for the four-day music festival, which concluded Sunday, drew 15,000 more attendees this year.
Swedish regulator temporarily revokes Charm Entertainment’s casino license
The Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) has issued a temporary revocation of Charm Entertainment AB’s license to operate commercial land-based casino
John E. Sununu pressed on loyalty to Trump in Nashua forum
John E. Sununu pointed to his bipartisan approach to politics during his previous stretch in Congress while answering voter questions in Nashua on Monday.
Cris Collinsworth Calls Lions’ Final Drive a ‘Disaster’
Cris Collinsworth called the Lions' four-play final drive a disaster on the NBC broadcast. #Lions
Study: Does earlier menopause onset mean faster cognitive decline?
A new study found that women who experience earlier onset menopause had earlier cognitive decline and were diagnosed with Alzheimer's sooner.
Former ASU swimmer Grant House helped reshape college sports
Five years after becoming the lead plaintiff in House v. NCAA, former Arizona State swimmer Grant House reflects on the lawsuit that helped reshape college athletics, the leadership lessons he learned and his continued fight for athletes’ voices and collective bargaining with the Protect College Sports Act making its way through Congress.
Essay: Do political debates still matter to voters?
Political debates aren't just about candidates performing well. They're an opportunity for voters to hear real answers, see how candidates think and engage in democracy.
Answer Man: Misleading political ads? What’s up with water alerts?
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: The ads against Jamie Ager that are airing on TV now are false. They say that Ager voted against this or that and supported this or that. He is not an elected official and could not support or oppose any legislation. These are the ads paid for by No Going Back PAC. What am I missing? My answer: Well, I’d like to say, “The good old days of American politics where opponents politely disagreed with one another in their advertising.” But honestly, these campaigns have always been uglier than a closeup of my belly button.
Viktor Gyokeres Extends Nations League Scoring Record With Romania Goal
Viktor Gyokeres has scored in a seventh consecutive Nations League game, extending the competition record he set for Sweden against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Volkswagen exec starts in new CarMax C-suite role
Elizabeth Dirgins was named CarMax's inaugural chief digital and customer officer and executive vice president.
LGBTQ+ Gen Z Voters More Likely to See Climate, ICE, and Gaza as Urgent Issues
New data shines a light on the priorities of a large swath of young adult voters.
Supreme Court weighs local governments' climate lawsuits against oil, gas firms
Key justices appeared wary about the potential sweep of litigation, but torn over the complex legal interplay of federal and state laws raised by the case
Supreme Court weighs local governments' climate lawsuits against oil, gas firms
Key justices appeared wary about the potential sweep of litigation, but torn over the complex legal interplay of federal and state laws raised by the case
Watch Sirianni presser after Week 4 loss to Rams
Watch Nick Sirianni as he answers questions about the Eagles’ Week 4 loss to the Rams at the Linc.
Nicklaus Children's Health System Honored with Inaugural Champion for Children's Care Award from Joint Commission
/PRNewswire/ -- Nicklaus Children's Health System is pleased to announce that it has been recognized with the inaugural Champion for Children's Care Award from...
Houston high school football: Week 6 takeaways and top performers
Landen Williams-Callis is passing Texas high school football legends, Friendswood is off to its best start in 16 years, Bridgeland is surging toward another district title run.
1.2K views · 22 reactions | Nobel Prize 2026 explained: the...
Nobel Prize 2026 explained: the breakthrough that lets scientists switch brain cells on and off with light. Known as optogenetics, this technology helps researchers map the brain and uncover the...
Small Animal Science Program at WSWHE BOCES celebrates its 100th adoption of a local homeless pet
The Small Animal Science Program at WSWHE BOCES recently celebrated a major milestone: its 100th adoption of a local homeless pet.
Supreme Court rejects Michigan woman's appeal over school's ban on 'Let's Go Brandon' sweatshirts
The mother of two boys says their First Amendment rights were violated when they were told to take off the sweatshirts she bought them for Christmas in 2022.
5 odd wellness trends people have sworn by
Bodog reports on five bizarre wellness trends, including the tapeworm diet and radium wellness, highlighting their high costs and health risks.
Secret Lair Heads South with Festival in a Box: Atlanta 2026 and Mystery Booster Commander Edition
Bolster your collection with Mystery Booster Commander Edition, a sweet new drop, and cool promos from Festival in a Box: Atlanta 2026!
RYOBI Cleans Up Local Politics with Unlikely Mayoral Candidate 'Swifty'
McCann Birmingham and RYOBI unveil the first trailer for a documentary following the spot cleaner’s unlikely bid to become mayor of Staines
You Might Need to Replace Your iPhone 18 Pro Max
Some iPhone 18 Pro Max users cannot connect to AT&T's networks. If that's your experience, you'll likely need to swap out the entire device.
RWJBarnabas Health President and CEO Mark E. Manigan Named 2026 NJBIZ Executive Excellence Honoree
Mark E. Manigan, President and Chief Executive Officer of RWJBarnabas Health, the largest, most comprehensive academic health system in New Jersey, has been named a 2026 Executive Excellence honoree by NJBIZ, recognizing his leadership and impact on New Jersey’s health care landscape.
Scientists seek new ways to protect Sierra Nevada meadows
Sierra Nevada meadows may cover a relatively small portion of the landscape, but scientists say they play an important role in supporting wildlife, storing water and maintaining biodiversity. Researchers and conservationists recently gathered at the...
PRO SHOP RAISES $24 MILLION SERIES B TO ACCELERATE NEXT PHASE OF GROWTH ACROSS MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND COMMERCE
/PRNewswire/ -- Pro Shop, the innovative media platform connecting golf with mainstream culture, today announced the closing of a $24 million Series B...
Beazley and Zurich Global Specialty Names New CEO
Kristof Terryn has been appointed as chief executive of Beazley and Zurich Global Specialty following Switzerland-based Zurich Insurance Group AG’s acquisition of British firm Beazley plc…
Science Corp. Announces Long-Term (36 Months) Results of PRIMA BCI Clinical Trial Showing Durable Vision Restoration in Blind Patients Suffering from Geographic Atrophy
Science Corporation, the neural engineering and brain-computer interface (BCI) company, today announced long-term (36 months) followup data from its pivotal ...
Comcast Business 2026 Cybersecurity Threat Report: 79.3 Billion Events Show AI Pressurizing the Threat Landscape
Comcast Business has released its 2026 Cybersecurity Threat Report, an analysis of 79.3 billion cybersecurity events detected across its cybersecurity custom...
Supreme Court rejects appeal over Michigan school's ban on ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sweatshirts
The Supreme Court is rejecting an appeal from a Michigan woman challenging a school district’s ban on shirts with the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon.” | 830 WCCO
Supreme Court rejects appeal over Michigan school ban on ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sweatshirts
The Supreme Court is rejecting an appeal from a Michigan woman challenging a school district’s ban on shirts with the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon.” | KNSS Radio
Answering Your Questions as Padres Near Disastrous End to Season
The San Diego Padres are inches away from total collapse, digging themselves into an 0-2 hole against the Milwaukee Brewers. They'll now turn home to a raucous Petco Park crowd with the hopes that they can stave off execution. The postseason allows for some insane turns of fortune. Could the Friars be the next recipient …
Supreme Court declines First Amendment case of students forced to remove ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sweatshirts
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a First Amendment appeal from two middle school students who were ordered to remove sweatshirts emblazoned with the words “Let’s Go Brandon,” steering clear of a case that could have clarified the power schools have to police potentially offense speech in the classroom.
Supreme Court passes on 'Let's Go Brandon' student speech case
A middle school said brothers couldn't wear "Let's Go Brandon" sweatshirts to class. They asked the Supreme Court to get involved.
Windows malware uses Grok AI to help stay hidden, researchers say
x47.c Windows malware uses xAI's Grok to maintain persistence on infected PCs while stealing passwords, browser cookies and API keys from victims.
Jeffries says House Democrats aiming to repeat 2018 sweep by flipping Trump districts
The Democratic Party is working to expand the map by going on offense in Republican-held districts, while President Donald Trump hits the trail in a red-state sprint to boost voter enthusiasm and shore up support from his base.
American College of Lifestyle Medicine welcomes national resolution advancing nature as a foundation for health and well-being
/PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) today welcomed a resolution adopted by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA)...
Scientists Reveal The Optimal Amount of Sleep For Lower Dementia Risk
A huge analysis uncovered the sweet spot.
Eyes on Growth: TD Survey Finds Small Businesses Confident About Growth Despite Economic Headwinds and Delayed Investments
TD Bank U.S. survey finds 85% of small business owners expect stronger revenue through year-end, despite economic uncertainty and preparedness gaps.
Bluevine and Coverdash Partner to Bring Embedded Business Insurance to Small Businesses
/PRNewswire/ -- Bluevine, the largest small business banking platform in the US* and Coverdash, a leading embedded business insurance provider powering...
oasisVRX Expands to the Princeton Area With New Active Entertainment Virtual Reality Destination
/PRNewswire/ -- oasisVRX is expanding with the opening of its second location at Princeton North Shopping Center, 1225 Route 206 in Princeton, New Jersey....
PSA: Kingdom Hearts Collection Will Collectively Take Up Over 130GB On Switch 2
Still better than the cloud
Kingdom Hearts Collection Will Collectively Take Up Over 130GB On Switch 2
Still better than the cloud
Digital Science appoints Charlesworth as strategic sales partner of Altmetric and Dimensions in China’s scholarly publishing sector
Digital Science has appointed Charlesworth as its strategic sales partner of Altmetric and Dimensions in China’s scholarly publishing sector. This collaboration aims to support the growing demand for research data and information across this rapidly developing market.
Why plugged-in pickle glows: Engineer burns 100-plus pickles to find answer
An engineer says glowing pickles owe their orange light to sparks igniting hydrogen near an electrode, with sodium ions supplying the color.
German and US scientists win Nobel medicine prize for work on light and brain
They will share a prize sum of 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million).
Ohio Democrats’ path to the governor’s office runs through rural areas that had turned against them
Democrats say their nominee for governor in Ohio, Dr. Amy Acton, represents the party’s best chance in years to win that office.
Ohio Democrats’ path to the governor’s office runs through rural areas that had turned against them
Democrats say their nominee for governor in Ohio, Dr. Amy Acton, represents the party’s best chance in years to win that office.
Three Preseason Goals For Bulls' First Round Pick Dailyn Swain
To secure his place in Chicago’s future, the versatile rookie must rediscover his offensive aggression, leverage his elite defensive length, and prove he can impact winning beyond scoring.
Collaborating with Canadian Scientists on Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Research
I first met Dr. Helen Gurney-Smith in fall 2024, when Dr. Shannon Meseck and I drove just beyond the U.S.-Canada border to the St. Andrews Biological Station in New Brunswick. We went there to study larval sea scallop respiration when exposed to near-future temperature and pH. This past winter, Dr.
MobileFuse Receives SBTi Validation for Its Science-Based Emissions Target
/PRNewswire/ -- MobileFuse, a leading advertising and technology platform, today announced that SBTi Services validated its science-based greenhouse gas...
Talkiatry Earns Joint Commission Accreditation for Behavioral Health Care
/PRNewswire/ -- Talkiatry, the nation's largest psychiatric provider group and the preferred in-network psychiatry partner for more than 70 U.S. health...
Fiserv Small Business Index Shows Small Business Sales Rise in September as Back-to-School Lifts Retail
Index rises to 146 as sales increase +2.2% year over year and +0.7% month over month MILWAUKEE, Oct. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology, today published the Fiserv Small Business Index for September 2026,
Will Democrats’ midterm wave reach California’s Central Valley? Bernie Sanders rallies the vote
Bernie Sanders rallied hundreds in sweltering Bakersfield heat for Randy Villegas, a progressive long shot in one of the nation's most contested House races.
The AI Advantage Minnesota Has Been Building for Decades
Software companies used to defend themselves in a handful of reliable ways. They built useful features, made their products easy to use and counted on the hassle of switching platforms to keep their customers from leaving. A new company that wanted to compete had to invest months, sometimes even years, of engineering time to catch
MLB playoff schedule: It’s American League Monday
The National League had the MLB playoff stage to itself on Sunday, but while those four teams switch cities, Monday belongs to the American League Division Series, with a pair of Games 2 in Cleveland and St. Petersburg. Major League Baseball in recent years has started the Division Series round with all four series playing […]
Swedish regulator temporarily revokes Charm Entertainment AB’s casino licence following investigation
Spelinspektionen issued an interim revocation of Charm Entertainment AB’s licence to operate commercial land-based casino gaming.
Best Buy’s Techtober Sale Is Live with Big Discounts on PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Games—and Unlike Prime Day, Deals Aren't Locked Behind a Membership
Best Buy's Techtober sale is now live, rivalling Amazon Prime Day with savings on new PS5 game releases, Xbox hardware bundles, and plenty more.
RBI sees no signs of expropriation of Russian business, CEO says
Raiffeisen Bank International currently sees no signs of an expropriation of its Russian business, CEO Michael Hoellerer said on Monday, after several attempts by the Austrian lender to sell the division have failed.
Kingdom Hearts I-III for Switch 2 should've been a slam dunk, but some games need more work
The inconsistent port quality and issues hold some of these KH games back on Switch 2. Square Enix should've done more.
Nobel medicine prize goes to 3 scientists for research into brain activity
The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists working on the mechanisms the brain uses to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells.
'Clearly not working': Sam Altman hits AI industry over political spending
In a wide-ranging interview, the OpenAI CEO criticized the flood of AI dollars swamping the midterm elections and suggested a new liability framework is needed for autonomous hacks.
‘Clearly not working’: Sam Altman hits AI industry over political spending
In a wide-ranging interview, the OpenAI CEO criticized the flood of AI dollars swamping the midterm elections and suggested a new liability framework is needed for autonomous hacks.
Yale School of Medicine On the Science of Childhood Anxiety, Say, Anxiety Disorders Are the Most Common Mental Health Challenges In Youth
Credit: Matt Bradbury October 5, 2026 - By Isabella Backman - Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health challenges in youth. Left untreated, they can disrupt the lives of both children and their families. The good news is that with intervention, most children will overcome these conditions. Across Yale School of Medicine, scientists are working to understand anxiety at every level, from common anxious behaviors to molecular biomarkers in the brain. They are using their findings to develop and disseminate new evidence-based treatments for childhood anxiety. Today, the go-to treatment for childhood anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a form of psychotherapy that teaches children skills for confronting anxious thoughts and helps them practice managing situations that cause anxiety. While it is the gold-standard treatment backed by considerable scientific evidence, up to 50% of children will not see sufficient benefit from CBT alone. Wendy Silverman, PhD, Alfred A. Messer Professor in the Child Study Center, co-directs the Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program alongside Eli Lebowitz, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center. One of their main interests is learning how to improve outcomes beyond CBT. “We’re developing cutting-edge, research-based knowledge that can reduce the suffering that anxiety causes children and their families,” says Silverman. Changing parent behavior YSM experts are investigating how to improve CBT outcomes for children by involving the parents. Silverman’s research has uncovered two main components of parent intervention that improve childhood anxiety: not enabling children to completely avoid the things that make them anxious and taking steps to enhance their autonomy. Parents may unintentionally reinforce their child’s anxiety by allowing them to avoid what makes them anxious. They also may unintentionally limit the children’s sense of autonomy by being overly intrusive. “One of the things that we take pride in is that we’ve focused on trying to understand what parents need to do, and to test our ideas and see if changing the parents’ behaviors is enhancing the effects of CBT,” Silverman says. “Our findings thus far suggest that they do." As much as CBT can be helpful, it can also be challenging to get one’s child to do the necessary steps for CBT to work. This is one important reason why Lebowitz created a novel intervention program for parents named Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). Existing intervention programs often teach parents to act as therapists for their child, such as training them on how to practice breathing exercises. “It makes sense, but this doesn’t work very well in practice,” says Lebowitz. “And part of the reason, I think, is that it’s not easy to get your kid to do things, especially if they’re not excited about doing it.” SPACE is unique because it focuses entirely on parent involvement and changing parental behavior—children are not involved in the sessions. For example, parents learn how to use supportive messages that convey confidence that their child can tolerate and manage distress. “It might sound like a parent saying to a child, ‘I get that this is really hard for you, but I know that you can handle it,’” Lebowitz says. The program also works with parents to identify the ways in which they are accommodating anxious behaviors. “We’ll pick one thing that parents are doing that is an accommodation and help them make a detailed plan for how they’re going to change that,” Lebowitz explains. Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Much of the existing research on SPACE has focused on parents of children under age 14. Ongoing studies are now exploring its use with parents of older teens. “Both anxiety and accommodation can interfere with normative developmental shifts during the teen years, including increased autonomy and individuation from parents,” says Rebecca Etkin, PhD, associate research scientist in the Child Study Center. “In this sense, SPACE may be particularly well-suited for anxious teens and their parents. We want to see whether it is effective during this distinct developmental window.” Unfortunately, many families in need of CBT face barriers, including limited availability of services and geographic constraints. One way to improve access is digital interventions. Silverman and her team are developing an evidence-based digitized intervention program for parents that they can access directly from their computer or smart phone. “The work we’re doing will be one of the very few parent interventions that is digitized and importantly tested for effectiveness,” she says. Creating interventions for anxiety-related challenges Silverman and Lebowitz recently received a generous gift to develop and test other interventions that help parents reduce other child anxiety-related behavioral and emotional difficulties, such as restrictive eating and unexplained somatic symptoms. One of these projects in particular focuses on understanding the risks of social media and its potential benefits, including offering a sense of connection. “A lot of research has focused on the idea that social media is harmful and the less of it the better,” says Lebowitz. “But we actually see is that this is not quite right—there are negatives, but there are also positives. So, we’re trying to get a little bit more nuanced of a picture.” The team is working with teens with social anxiety and their parents over an extended period to better understand their social media habits and how their anxiety levels affect engagement with different platforms. The teens will answer questions sent to an app on their phones about mood and social media usage in an effort to capture emotional responses as they unfold. “We hope to develop interventions that can help make the best of social media while protecting against the more problematic effects,” Lebowitz says. The brain’s role in anxiety Researchers are also testing therapies to address anxiety at the neurological and molecular levels. In collaboration with Dylan Gee, PhD, professor of psychology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine, Lebowitz and Silverman are using brain imaging to identify changes in a child’s brain before and after parents enroll in SPACE. In one study, children viewed anxiety-inducing images while undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the researchers conducted scans with and without the children’s parents nearby. Before SPACE, children’s brains were better able to activate the regulatory circuitry needed to turn off an anxious response when their parents were nearby. But after SPACE, children could activate this circuitry even without the parent around. “As parents work on gradually reducing some of their accommodations, you can see a child get better at regulating their own fear system in the brain,” Lebowitz says. “It’s remarkable.” Research into the molecular underpinnings of anxiety can also inform new childhood anxiety treatments. In a recent study, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Flora Vaccarino, MD, Harris Professor in the Child Study Center, discovered that a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) could be protective from the toxic effects of stress. FGF2 levels in children and their parents were linked to the children’s risk of developing anxiety and depression, the study showed. The findings could help explain why some children who are exposed to early life trauma such as poverty or abuse are more prone to developing mental health disorders. And FGF2 could be a target for treatment. “This is very novel because it starts to give a clue to what is the molecular chain that connects those lived experiences to the actual psychological outcomes,” Lebowitz says. New ways to study and treat childhood anxiety Michael Crowley, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center, collaborates with Silverman and Lebowitz to study the role that attention plays in development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. There is a large body of research that shows that anxious children, like anxious adults, are prone to focus on threatening stimuli such as angry faces compared with neutral faces. This has led to innovative interventions that involve attention retraining. The idea is that if experts train children to look away from threatening stimuli, it may reduce their anxiety—especially children with social anxiety who are most prone to attend to threats. The researchers have just completed a clinical trial for attention retraining with 10- to 14-year-olds with social anxiety disorders and are currently analyzing the findings. Besides this innovative attention retraining research, as Crowly notes, “I like to design tasks that are engaging to kids,” Crowley says. “My goal is to assess something without the kids knowing what we are assessing.” With this goal in mind, Crowley has created a virtual game, named Boom, to study threat processing in children with anxiety disorders. The game is similar to that of hot potato—the child and three digital players take turns virtually passing a ball to each other’s gloves. At some point, the ball turns into a bomb, and as the bomb lands in each player’s glove, the outline of the glove turns yellow. The goal is to avoid having the bomb go off in your glove. What isn’t obvious is that the game is designed to measure different types of threatening stimuli, both ambiguous and direct. In the game, the direct threat occurs as the bomb is traveling towards your glove. The ambiguous threat is the yellow outlined glove as it is unknown where the bomb will travel next. While children play the game, Crowley’s team measures their brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). The researchers have discovered that in kids with anxiety, the brain reacts more strongly to ambiguous threats than it does in their peers, but less strongly to direct threats. They believe that the initial abnormally large brain response to not knowing where the bomb is going impairs the brain's ability to properly respond when the threat is actually traveling the child’s way. “The brains of children with anxiety are unable to differentiate between threats you need to do something about and those that are not your problem.” Michael Crowley, PhD, develops innovative games for studying anxiety in children and adolescents.Credit: Matt Bradbury Based on these insights, Crowley hopes to study whether interventions like attention training could restore appropriate threat processing. Crowley’s team is also working on a test called the Balloon Risk Avoidance Task, which evaluates risk-taking and avoidance behaviors. It features a digital balloon that is full of air and about to burst. Kids have six seconds to let air out of the balloon. The more air they let out, the less risk they face that the balloon will pop. But at the same time, the balloon becomes less valuable as it deflates. “The more air you keep in the balloon, the more points you get,” Crowley explains. So far, the researchers have found that when the balloons pop unexpectedly, teens with social anxiety show distinct brain responses. Studying these responses can help psychologists understand the underlying pathways driving the various manifestations of anxiety. The genetics of anxiety When Thomas Fernandez, MD, associate professor in the Child Study Center and of psychiatry, was still in training, there was a lot of excitement about understanding the genetics associated with autism spectrum disorder. Since then, scientists have identified around 250 genes associated with autism. The genetic contribution to anxiety disorders, on the other hand, has historically received less attention. Anxiety is less heritable than autism, but the genetic contribution for anxiety disorders that emerge in childhood may be higher than for anxiety disorders overall. While scientists estimate the heritability of anxiety disorders in general to be around 30% to 50%, some studies suggest higher heritability for certain childhood-onset anxiety presentations. “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism,” Fernandez says. “So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism. So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” Thomas Fernandez, MD Associate Professor In the Child Study Center and in Psychiatry Now, Fernandez and Emily Olfson, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Child Study Center, are studying children and their parents to identify genetic changes that are present in the child but not the parents, known as “de novo mutations.” “All of us have some de novo mutations—maybe about 50 to 100 sprinkled throughout the genome,” Olfson says. “But when they occur within the coding regions of genes, they can be really disruptive.” Previous research shows that people with autism have higher rates of damaging de novo mutations than the general population. In 2022, Olfson, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Fernandez published a study on 68 children and their families that found that children with anxiety had similarly high levels of these mutations. Studying de novo mutations can help point the researchers to where they should be looking for genes associated with anxiety. “The end game is using the genes to steer us toward the right part of biology that we can then target to come up with better treatments,” Fernandez says. Building on those findings, the team is now studying more families to better understand how these de novo mutations, along with other genetic and environmental factors, shape pediatric anxiety disorders. They recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to enroll 750 new families over the next five years. Olfson is the principal investigator, with co-investigators Lebowitz, Fernandez, Silverman, and Shuangge Steven Ma, PhD, department chair and professor of biostatistics at Yale School of Public Health. Neurodevelopment, Risk Genes, and Mental Health Conditions - The Olfson Lab Joel Gelernter, MD, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, is interested in how different anxiety disorders differ genomically. “We are studying social phobia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, working to understand why people differ in their risk to these specific anxiety disorders and evaluating various risk factors,” he says. Gelernter was recently involved in one of the largest studies to date of the genomics underlying anxiety disorder. The study included around 122,000 people with anxiety disorders and around 730,000 without. It found that some genetic differences associated with anxiety were linked to signaling that helps reduce overactivity in the nervous system. Many anxiety medications available today work by targeting this process. “It’s nice when the biology that you get out of a large genome-wide study ratifies things that we already know because that can help increase confidence in further findings from the study,” Gelernter says. Uncovering the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders John Krystal, MD, Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, is interested in the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which anxiety is a major symptom. In the late 1980s, Krystal’s team discovered that the drug yohimbine activated symptoms in patients with PTSD. “This was the first time we could link a specific biological mechanism to the symptoms of PTSD,” Krystal says. At the time, he adds, this finding was highly controversial. “A lot of people felt that PTSD was a purely psychological syndrome that didn’t have an underlying biology.” Since then, Krystal has dived deep into understanding the neurobiology of PTSD to learn how to better treat it. His team is evaluating the use of ketamine and psychedelics. These would be among the first treatments to be developed specifically for PTSD. They may also be applicable for other disorders including anxiety disorders, Krystal adds. An important gap in PTSD treatment is the absence of biological tests that inform how to best help patients manage their PTSD symptoms. A doctor doesn’t diagnose cancer based on how they feel. Rather, they use tests of the biology of the cancer to determine the best course of treatment. “And we can’t do that in any psychiatric disorder other than Alzheimer’s disease,” Krystal says. “But now we are building a foundation for this approach to the treatment of anxiety disorders for the first time.” Source: Yale School of Medicine
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