Perception Of Fear Research Articles

The Intersection of Military History and the History of Emotions: Reconsidering Fear and Honour in Ancien Régime Warfare

This article reinterprets combat training and tactics in terms of the “execution” of the emotions, the shaping of actual military practice by the perceptions of fear and honour by different emotional communities. In the early modern European example emphasized here, the command community comprised of officers and commanders perceived itself largely driven by honour, but saw the emotional communities of the men in the ranks as most influenced by raw fear. The result was a tactical system based on supervision and control, minimizing soldier initiative. Only change in the compositions and perceptions of emotional communities allowed tactical revolution.

Üç Kuşak Kadınların Doğum Deneyimleri ve Doğum Algılarının İncelenmesi: Batı Anadolu Kırsalı Örneği

Birçok toplumda yaşamın doğal bir parçası olarak algılanan doğum, kadınlar için önemli bir deneyimdir. Bu deneyimin hem kadına hem de çevresine olumlu veya olumsuz yansımaları olabilmekte ve kuşaktan kuşağa aktarılarak toplumun doğum algısını etkileyebilmektedir. Bu çalışmada kırsalda yaşayan, bebek patlaması kuşağı, x kuşağı ve y kuşağına dahil olan kadınların doğum deneyimlerinin, doğum şekline bakış açılarının ve bunların kuşaklararası ilişkisinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırma kırsalda yaşayan, doğum yapmış 101 kadın ile yürütülmüştür. Veriler araştırmacılar tarafından hazırlanan anket formu ile toplanmıştır. Zaman içinde kadınlarda üreme sağlığı, obstetrik özellikler ve doğumlarıyla ilgili kararlarda söz sahibi olmaları açısından olumlu gelişmeler olduğu saptanmıştır. Öte yandan kadınların doğum korkusu ve negatif doğum ağrısı algıları artmış, normal vajinal doğum oranları azalmış, sezaryen doğum tercihine eğilim artmıştır.

MITIGATING NATURAL DISASTER IN THE MIDST OF LIMITATIONS: HUMAN SECURITY ISSUES IN OVERCOMING THREAT OF FLOOD IN CITARUM RIVER BASIN, INDONESIA

Purpose: The article aims to analyze human security issues in the Citarum river basin, Indonesia, by taking the threat of flood in the Majalaya District as a case study. As the case has been increasing in recent years, wave the flood has become an inevitable source of fear for people living in the Citarum river basin in the rainy season. Environmental pollution due to massive industrialization, land function change, especially in the upstream area, and the absence of proper disaster mitigation from local government are problematized in this research.
 Methodology: Using the Human Security point of view, the article tries to show people’s perspectives in defining security and overcoming threats, especially relating to flood in the Citarum river basin. As for the method, the research uses a qualitative approach with a study case as an analytical strategy. We interviewed some informants who live in Majalaya District and found secondary data from the government’s and society’s documents and analyze it by using the Human Security approach.
 Principal Findings: This article shows how the society’s recognition and feeling on the environmental threat and organizes a limited community-based disaster mitigation system, which is called the ‘JagaBalai’ community, as an effort to build internal resilience and to overcome the risk and fear coming from the flood.
 Implications/Applications: The findings of this research contribute to the literature on Human Security concerns, especially those related to its elements of freedom of fear related to natural disasters or any other environmental issues.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: The current study fills the gap in the existing body of literature by analyzing the dynamics between an individual’s perspective and the state as a source of security in the Majalaya District, Indonesia, by using Human Security approach. This approach can be useful to describe the degree of disaster victims’ perceptions of fear and security and their relationship to government policies.

Misdemeanor arrests and community perceptions of fear of crime in Seattle

PurposeThis study utilizes data from two research initiatives – Seattle Police Department's Micro-Community Policing Plans and the Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice to explore the relationship between misdemeanor arrests and fear of crime in Seattle. MethodData collected on Misdemeanor arrests is compared with Seattle Public Safety Survey annual data from 2016 to 2018 from 19,103 respondents on community perceptions of fear of crime, social cohesion, informal social control, social disorganization, and police legitimacy at the micro-community (neighborhood) level in Seattle's five Police Precincts. The extent to which neighborhood perception of fear of crime is impacted by misdemeanor arrests, demographic characteristics, and community perceptions of social disorganization, social cohesion, informal social control, and police legitimacy across Seattle's precincts and neighborhoods is examined. ResultsResults show that at the citywide level, fear of crime is associated with gender (female), marital status (married), age (older), race/ethnicity (minority), education (less), and income (higher) and perceptions of high social disorganization, low social cohesion, and high informal social control. At the neighborhood level, a significant difference was found between some Seattle neighborhoods grouped by High Fear of Crime-Low Misdemeanor Arrest, Low Fear of Crime-High Misdemeanor Arrest, Low Fear of Crime-Low Misdemeanor Arrest, High Fear of Crime-High Misdemeanor Arrest showing distinct profiles with respect demographic characteristics and ratings on aspects of neighborhood public safety. ConclusionsImplications for directing police resources city services that are directed toward both crime incidence and community perception to improve public safety are discussed.

Faces of Mongolian Fear: Demonological Beliefs, Narratives and Protective Measures in Contemporary Folk Religion

Abstract This article looks at the perceptions of fear and ‘the frightening’ in contemporary Mongolian demonology. In the article, I discuss beliefs concerning both human and supernatural – what is supposed to be frightening for humans and what is supposed to be frightening for spirits, ghosts and demons. In daily interaction with the supernatural this mutual ‘fright’ can be regarded as an important part of communication. In this article, I discuss what is believed to be the most frightful for humans and for supernatural agents, what kinds of image this fear relates to and what the roots of these beliefs are, as well as the popular ways to confront and defend against ‘frightening’ in Mongolian folklore. My research is based on fieldwork materials collected during annual expeditions in different parts of Mongolia (2006–2017) and Mongolian published sources such as Mongolian newspapers and journals, special editions of stories about encounters with the supernatural.

Social scientific knowledge in times of crisis: What climate change can learn from coronavirus (and vice versa).

"Crisis, by its very nature, requires decisive intervention. However, important questions can be obscured by the very immediacy of the crisis condition. What is the nature of the crisis? How it is defined (and by whom)? And, subsequently, what forms of knowledge are deemed legitimate and authoritative for informing interventions?""

Disentangling Violence: Amygdala Nuclei Volumes in Psychotic and Non-Psychotic Violent Offenders

The amygdala is important for fear perception and aggression regulation. Prior studies have associated smaller amygdala with psychotic and non-psychotic violence. Amygdala consists of structurally and functionally distinct nuclei that may be differently involved in violent and aggressive behavior. We here explore associations between MRI-derived amygdala nuclei volumes, psychosis, and violent offending.

“Save My Baby”: The Lived Experience of Hospitalized Pregnant Women With a Threat of Preterm birth

Activity restriction in hospital to prevent preterm birth (PTB) is widely used as the first step of treatment. It is associated with adverse physiological and psychological effects on maternal and fetal health that might persist years after birth. A sample of 10 pregnant women who were hospitalized for being at risk for PTB were purposively recruited to describe their lived experience via semi-structured in-depth interview. Five themes were identified, the maternal role establishment and suspending responsibilities, the women's perception of fear of uncertainty and finding support, dissatisfaction of care, the change of routine life and family relationships, and the cultural influence from the participants perspectives. Pregnant women with threat of PTB endure the physical and psychological suffering from being hospitalized to reach their ultimate goal of “having alive and healthy child via safe birth.” A nurse’s understanding of this experience is essential to provide a competent, compassionate and woman-centered care that can help women to cope and to establish maternal role. The study findings serve as a framework for improving services at health care facilities to be mother friendly to mitigate the negative effect of hospitalization during pregnancy on the women and their child health years after birth.

The Media and their Informative Role in the Face of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Validation of Fear Perception and Magnitude of the Issue (MED-COVID-19)

Introduction: The media play an important role in the dissemination of information on the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, it is important to measure whether the population is receiving information that calms it down, as well as whether such news are in accordance with the magnitude of the issue. Objective: To validate a questionnaire that measures the perception of the media and their informative role in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A validation process for a questionnaire that measures the perception of the magnitude of this issue and whether it generates fear was carried out. The validation was performed by means of a literature search. Moreover, a first version of the scale was developed, which was assessed by 30 experts (physicians, epidemiologists, among others). After this, an exploratory factor analysis and descriptive statistics were performed. Results: Our scale had 13 initial items; however, one of them was eliminated because of its unsatisfactory level of statistical adequacy. Exploratory factorial analysis and parallel analysis suggested three factors. Results of the KMO coefficient (0.833) and the Bartlett’s test of sphericity (4998.5; gl = 66; p<0.001) were acceptable and significant, which justify the exploratory factorial analysis. The correlation between the factors was >0.4 and robust analyses revealed a satisfactory factorial structure (X2=88.0; p= 0.001; IFC=0.968; GFI=0.992; TLI=0.937; RMSEA=0.123). In the descriptive statistics of the 12 final items, moderate and significant correlations between the items were reported (> 0.5). Conclusion: We generate a scale to validate the perception of how people receive information from the media. Thus, this scale can be used to measure the informative role of the media regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and may even serve for other similar public health emergencies.

Persuasiveness of organic agricultural products

PurposeThe study discusses organic agricultural product persuasion using an empirical survey. This study argued that strong argument persuasive advertising message would trigger individuals' self-reference to the harm of pesticide residue in non-organic agricultural product, which would raise their purchase intention of organic agricultural product.Design/methodology/approachThe present study conducted an empirical investigation in Taiwan by recruiting 527 Taiwanese participants using the convenience sampling procedure. The current research performed structural equation modeling analysis and used LISREL software to report the analytical results.FindingsIndividuals with health consciousness may perceive a high-level risk of non-organic agricultural product, which would raise individuals' fear perception to the harm of pesticide residue. Fear perception will increase individual's purchase intention of organic agricultural product. Results can help industry practitioners benefit from the results by enabling them to develop their advertising strategy for organic food.Originality/valueResults can help industry practitioners benefit from the results by enabling them to develop their advertising strategy for organic food.

Assessment of school teachers’ disaster preparedness using the extended parallel process model: a cross-sectional study in Angeles City, Philippines

Disasters can affect anyone, but children are the most vulnerable. Schools play an essential role during disasters because children spend most of their time in such institutions, and teachers are among the untapped groups whose potential roles in disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) are not yet fully realized. In order to provide baseline data that may be useful in developing an intervention geared towards maximizing the potential of teachers in DRRM, disaster preparedness was measured among teachers of Angeles City, Philippines, using a questionnaire designed using the extended parallel process model (EPPM). A total of 45 school teachers from Angeles City, Philippines, answered a structured survey questionnaire to assess their current disaster preparedness, and whether their attitude, intentions, behavior, perceived efficacy, perceived threat, and fear constitute a danger control or fear control response. A high percentage of the respondents exhibited danger control responses, although fear control responses were also observed. Perceptions of fear were highest for terrorist attacks and lowest for floods. Overall, through the use of the EPPM-based questionnaire, there is evidence that teachers basically show positive attitudes and intentions towards disaster preparedness, but lack sufficient motivation to exhibit excellent disaster preparedness behavior due to the low perceived threat.

Elite Athletes’ Assessment of Mental State for Competition in Individual and Team Sports / Procena mentalnog stanja za takmičenje vrhunskih sportista u individualnom i kolektivnom sportu

Pre-competition mental state is an important component of a sports outcome. In terms of the type of sport, the results of pre-competition state research differ depending on the methodology used. The aim of this paper was to determine mental states for elite sports competitions in one individual (shooting) and one team sport (handball). The research involved 41 elite athletes of both genders (11 males and 30 females) aged 16 to 34, who were members of the senior national shooting (N1=24) and senior national handball (N2=17) teams of Serbia. The applied instruments included the CSAI-2 and the CA test. Data processing involved descriptive statistics and variance analysis. The results indicate significant differences between athletes in individual and team sport, in favour of team sport athletes. Elite shooters show more cognitive anxiety, they are more prone to mental perception of pain, fear, and reliance on habits and automatism in competitions. Elite handball players showed significantly higher values on scales of desirable mental state for training and competition.

98 The Utility of Informant History in Delineating Narratives of Gait Disorder in Older Outpatients

Abstract Background A scholarly focus on informant history is recent in geriatric medicine, mostly focused on cognition and syncope.1 Gait disorders are common in older people and accurate diagnosis facilitates treatment.2 As there is a disparity between self-rated and ‘objective’ estimates of health among older people, and gait disorders often co-exist with cognitive impairment, there may be a significant difference between patient and informant narratives of gait disorder. We investigated the existence and extent of this disparity. Methods As no suitable informant measure could be sourced from the biomedical literature, inquiry with senior academic physiotherapists or through appeals on social media relating to physiotherapy, a mobility scale was designed. We included all patients with a gait disorder at serial outpatient clinics. Exclusion criteria were absence of gait disorder and dementia of sufficient severity to be unable to participate in the consent process. Paired t tests and Fischer exact test were used to analyse the data. Results Of 45 participants (mean age 79.8; 50% men), 35 (77.7%) had MCI or dementia. Twenty two (47.8%) informants considered an acute event precipitated an acute deterioration in mobility. Twenty seven informants (60%) had a fear of the older person falling compared to 9 (20%) of patients (p=0.0002). Patient and informant impression of point on mobility scale differed (t=3.61, p=0.0003). Although Informants reported more falls (mean of 1.36 vs 0.91) in the previous year (t=1.63, p=0.055) this did not achieve statistical significance. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate a discrepancy between patient and informant narratives of level of mobility, and point to the benefit of obtaining an informant history of loss of gait stability, mobility and falls. In addition, perceptions of fear of falling may be of assistance in managing risk and independence.

Gender, Racial Threat, and Perceived Risk in an Urban University Setting

Objectives: We provide new insights about the role of gender, race, and place in perceived risk and fear of crime and discuss the possible boundaries of the shadow of sexual assault thesis, which attributes women’s higher levels of fear to their underlying fear of rape across a variety of ecological contexts. Method: Analyses are based on data from in-depth qualitative interviews with 34 undergraduates attending a diverse urban university in a highly disadvantaged community in the northeast. Purposive and theoretical sampling strategies were used, and thematic saturation was achieved. Results: We find striking gender similarities in students’ perceptions of risk and fear of crime in this particular context. Specifically, both women and men drew on their perceptions of disorder in the community when defining the threat of victimization, which they believed was robbery committed by the city’s African American male residents. Conclusions: The gendered shadow of sexual assault was surprisingly absent from students’ discussions, suggesting that it may not be as universal across context as previous research suggests. We argue that microlevel contexts and methodological factors may shape the shadow’s presence, nature, and strength in gendered fear and perceived risk.

Effectiveness of a short-term and simple exercise training program for older adults

While there have been many studies determining the effectiveness of training programs to decrease fall risk in the elderly, most of them require special equipment, leader training, or major time commitments (more than 8 weeks, multiple times per week). Individuals older than 66 years old identified an exercise program offered at home, twice a week, lasting 10 or 30 minutes, and with no associated cost as being more attractive than other training program options offered (Franco et al., 2015). The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a simple six-week exercise program on fall risk factors. Thirty-eight older adults were assigned to a Training Group or a Control Group. Investigator-led balance and lower extremity strength exercises were performed twice a week. Mobility, leg strength and postural sway were measured before and after the six weeks for both groups. A survey determined perceptions of participant abilities and fear of falling at three different times. Timed Up and Go times decreased (p = .008), leg strength increased (p = .022), and postural sway decreased in the anteroposterior direction and overall, for the Training Group (p < .05) while the Control group displayed no differences. Surveys administered determined no differences for the Control group, but the Training Group perceived that they had better balance, mobility, and leg strength and a decreased fear of falling (p < .05). This simple training program led to changes that would likely decrease fall risk and did so in an extremely short time.

Fearless and positive children after hands-on educational experience with spiders in South America

ABSTRACT Fear of animals is an important issue to consider in order to increase knowledge about nature and foster positive attitudes for nature conservation. Spiders are a challenging group, because they are widely feared and disliked by humans, although the majority of species are harmless and they play a positive role in natural ecosystems. By means of self-report questionnaires filled out before and after three different extracurricular educational experiences, we examined how knowledge, fear perception and attitudes towards spiders changed in Uruguayan children 10–11 years old. Experience groups were (1) short experience (‘Spider-single-lesson group’), children receiving 1 h of information and brief interaction with spiders; (2) no experience (‘Control-single-lesson group’), children receiving 1 h of information on another topic (no interaction with spiders); (3) long experience (‘Spider-multiple-lesson group’), children receiving 40 h of information and several interactions with spiders. We found that children’s knowledge improved in both groups gaining spider experience. Further, more children reported positive attitudes towards spiders, especially in the Spider-multiple-lesson group. Our findings highlight the importance of hands-on and extended activities to correct false concepts about unpopular animals and foster positive attitudes towards nature conservation.

The mediating role of power distance and face-saving on nurses’ fear of medication error reporting: A cross-sectional survey

BackgroundThe fear of social and professional consequences is a significant barrier to medication error reporting among nurses. Although some studies have identified cultural factors as playing a significant role in medication error reporting, little is known about the mechanisms by which these cultural characteristics influence the relationship between patient safety emphasis and the fear of medication error reporting. Objectives(1) Identify nurses’ perceptions of patient safety emphasis, face-saving, power distance, and fear of medication error reporting; and (2) explore face-saving and power distance as the underlying mechanisms for cultural factors in the relationship between nurses’ perceptions of safety emphasis and the fear of medication error reporting. DesignA cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational design. SettingsThree tertiary teaching hospitals located in China, including one children's hospital and two adult hospitals. ParticipantsWe recruited a total of 569 female registered nurses with at least one year of work experience. Most of the participants (73.8%) were junior nurses with mid-associate or associate degrees (55.4%). MethodsParticipants completed four questionnaires, including Safety Emphasis subscales from the Safety Climate Scale, Face-Saving Scale, the Index of Hierarchy of Authority, and the Nurses’ Fear of Medication Error Reporting. ResultsThe average scores of safety emphasis, face-saving, power distance, and the fear of medication error reporting were 20.27 (SD=2.36), 14.63 (SD=3.57), 17.36 (SD=3.49), and 18.92 (SD=4.20), respectively. There were no demographic characteristics associated with these variables, except education (B=−0.16, p = 0.013) and work experience (B=−0.14, p = 0.019), which were related to power distance. Face-saving and power distance were significant mediators that explained the effect of safety emphasis on nurses’ fear of medication error reporting. The overall indirect effect for both mediators was statistically significant (β=−0.27, p<0.05). When we compared the specific mediators’ indirect effects, face-saving was a more powerful mediator than power distance (β=−0.24 vs. β=−0.04). These mediation effects remained after we adjusted for the effects of education and work experience on power distance. ConclusionsWhen nurses have a common cultural background, they tend to perceive similar barriers to medication error reporting. For this study, face-saving and power distance are the two most important cultural factors because they significantly influence the relationship between safety emphasis and the fear of medication error reporting among Chinese nurses. It may not be possible to develop a work culture that minimizes fears of medication error reporting without first addressing face-saving needs and power differences.

Perceptions of Fear, Likelihood of Victimization, and Confidence About Dangerous Situations Among University Women in Poland.

Polish women have not been studied in regard to fear, likelihood, or confidence about dangerous situations, nor has there been an instrument to measure those perceptions. The purpose of the study was fourfold: first, to present the Polish translation and validation of the Perception of Dangerous Situations Scale (PDSS-P) and second, to assess Polish women's perceived fear, likelihood, and confidence about dangerous situations using the PDSS-P (41 items). The third purpose was to determine to what degree the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) and/or the Hope for Success Scale (KNS) correlated with any of the three subscales of the PDSS-P. The fourth purpose was to determine the congruence of the PDSS-P to the original PDSS. Two other tools (GSES and KNS) were administered to determine concurrent validity with the PDSS. A sample of 208 women aged 19 to 27 years (M = 21.04, SD = 1.88) participated in the study. Five factors were determined for each subscale, similar to the original version of the PDSS. Women reported they were more afraid of being raped by a stranger than being murdered. Their estimation of the likelihood of some serious events occurring was not congruent with statistical realities. The women thought the least likely events to happen to them in the next year would be being raped or beaten by someone they know, or being held prisoner by someone who wanted to murder them. Confidence to manage dangerous situations was low in cases of being raped by strangers or known people, being kidnapped, or being attacked. The GSES and KNS provided useful information, in that they did not measure the same constructs as the PDSS-P.

Negative Emotion and Joint-Stiffness Regulation Strategies After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury.

Fear of reinjury after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR) may be associated with persistent deficits in knee function and subsequent injury. However, the effects of negative emotion on neuromuscular-control strategies after an ACL injury have remained unclear. To identify how negative emotional stimuli affect neural processing in the brain and muscle coordination in patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction compared with healthy control participants. Case-control study. Neuromechanics laboratory. Twenty patients after unilateral anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and 20 healthy recruits. Electrocortical θ (4-8 Hz) activity (event-related synchronization, % increased power relative to a nonactive baseline) at selected electrodes placed at the frontal (F3, Fz, F4) and parietal (P3, Pz, P4) cortices using electroencephalography, neurophysiological cardiac changes (beats/min), and subjective fear perceptions were measured, along with joint stiffness (Nm/°/kg) with and without an acoustic stimulus in response to 3 types of emotionally evocative images (neutral, fearful, and knee-injury pictures). Both groups had greater frontoparietal θ power with fearful pictures (Fz: 35.9% ± 29.4%; Pz: 81.4% ± 66.8%) than neutral pictures (Fz: 24.8% ± 29.7%, P = .002; Pz: 64.2 ± 54.7%, P = .024). The control group had greater heart-rate deceleration with fearful (-4.6 ± 1.4 beats/min) than neutral (-3.6 ± 1.3 beats/min, P < .001) pictures, whereas the ACLR group exhibited decreased heart rates with both the fearful (-4.6 ± 1.3 beats/min) and injury-related (-4.4 ± 1.5 beats/min) pictures compared with neutral pictures (-3.4 ± 1.4 beats/min, P < .001). Furthermore, during the acoustic startle condition, fearful pictures increased joint stiffness (Nm/°/kg) in the ACLR group at the midrange (0°-20°: 0.027 ± 0.02) and long range (0°-40°: 0.050 ± 0.02) compared with the neutral pictures (0°-20°: 0.017 ± 0.01, P = .024; 0°-40°: 0.043 ± 0.02, P = .014). Negative visual stimuli simultaneously altered neural processing in the frontoparietal cortices and joint-stiffness regulation strategies in response to a sudden perturbation. The adverse effects of fear on neuromuscular control may indicate that psychological interventions should be incorporated in neuromuscular-control exercise programs after ACL injury.

Acid-sensing (proton-gated) ion channels (ASICs) (version 2019.4) in the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology Database

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs, nomenclature as agreed by NC-IUPHAR [35]) are members of a Na+ channel superfamily that includes the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC), the FMRF-amide activated channel (FaNaC) of invertebrates, the degenerins (DEG) of Caenorhabitis elegans, channels in Drosophila melanogaster and 'orphan' channels that include BLINaC [46] and INaC [47] that have also been named BASICs, for bile acid-activated ion channels [58]. ASIC subunits contain two TM domains and assemble as homo- or hetero-trimers [34, 31, 5] to form proton-gated, voltage-insensitive, Na+ permeable, channels (reviewed in [33, 57]). Splice variants of ASIC1 [termed ASIC1a (ASIC, ASICα, BNaC2α) [55], ASIC1b (ASICβ, BNaC2β) [13] and ASIC1b2 (ASICβ2) [50]; note that ASIC1a is also permeable to Ca2+] and ASIC2 [termed ASIC2a (MDEG1, BNaC1α, BNC1α) [45, 56, 30] and ASIC2b (MDEG2, BNaC1β) [40]] have been cloned. Unlike ASIC2a (listed in table), heterologous expression of ASIC2b alone does not support H+-gated currents. A third member, ASIC3 (DRASIC, TNaC1) [54], has been identified. A fourth mammalian member of the family (ASIC4/SPASIC) does not support a proton-gated channel in heterologous expression systems and is reported to downregulate the expression of ASIC1a and ASIC3 [1, 32, 24, 39]. ASIC channels are primarily expressed in central and peripheral neurons including nociceptors where they participate in neuronal sensitivity to acidosis. They have also been detected in taste receptor cells (ASIC1-3), photoreceptors and retinal cells (ASIC1-3), cochlear hair cells (ASIC1b), testis (hASIC3), pituitary gland (ASIC4), lung epithelial cells (ASIC1a and -3), urothelial cells, adipose cells (ASIC3), vascular smooth muscle cells (ASIC1-3), immune cells (ASIC1,-3 and -4) and bone (ASIC1-3). A neurotransmitter-like function of protons has been suggested, involving postsynaptically located ASICs of the CNS in functions such as learning and fear perception [25, 36, 63], responses to focal ischemia [59] and to axonal degeneration in autoimmune inflammation in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis [29], as well as seizures [64] and pain [19, 20, 10, 22]. Heterologously expressed heteromultimers form ion channels with differences in kinetics, ion selectivity, pH- sensitivity and sensitivity to blockers that resemble some of the native proton activated currents recorded from neurones [40, 3, 28, 8].