https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/yu-ntn100120.php
News Release 1-Oct-2020
Yale University
Researchers at Yale and elsewhere previously identified a host of genetic risk factors that help explain why some veterans are especially susceptible to the debilitating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A new Yale-led study published Oct. 1 in the journal Biological Psychiatry has now identified a social factor that can mitigate these genetic risks: the ability to form loving and trusting relationships with others.
The study is one of the first to explore the role of nurture as well as nature in its investigation of the biological basis of PTSD.
"We exist in a context. We are more than our genes," said Yale's Robert H. Pietrzak, associate professor of psychiatry and public health, and senior author of the study.
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Individuals with a secure attachment style perceive relationships as stable, feel that they are worthy of love and trust, and are able to solicit help from others. Those with an insecure attachment style report an aversion to or anxiety about intimacy with others, and have difficulty asking for help from others.
They found that the ability to form secure attachments essentially neutralized the collective effects of genetic risk for PTSD symptoms. The impact was particularly pronounced in a variant of the IGSF11 gene, which has been linked to synaptic plasticity or the ability of the brain to form new connections between brain cells.
Pietrzak noted that deficits in synaptic plasticity have also been linked to PTSD, depression, and anxiety, among other mental disorders. The findings illustrate the importance of integrating environmental and social as well as genetic factors in the study of PTSD and related disorders, the authors said.
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