Biochemistry and Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are the result of a vast array of causes which when combined lead to panic attacks. Recent research has pointed towards the vital role biochemistry has to play understanding and controlling the levels of anxiety we feel. Thus, the understanding of biochemical factors has become directly proportional to gaining a through understanding of anxiety as a whole.

Biochemistry and Anxiety Disorders

Scientists are now using various imaging techniques, in particular Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), to discover abnormalities in the brain by identifying the different areas of the brain that are linked to anxiety responses. The MRI creates a detailed, three-dimensional image of the brain’s structure, which in turn allows for the easy location of any obvious problems such as tumors or aneurysms.

In relation to anxiety disorders, the major focus is on changes in the amygdala, also commonly known as the ‘fear centre’. Inside the brain, it is the amygdala which based on emotions, memory and fear transmits messages to the heart, thus leading to an alternation in the heart rate, blood pressure and other stress-related responses. Research has shown that people with anxiety disorders have an amygdala which is highly sensitive to new situations and leads to a greater stress response when faced with a novel occurring.

The links between brain dysfunction and an anxiety disorder are most strong for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD) while abnormalities in a certain nerve pathway have, in addition to OCD, been linked to Attention Deficit Disorder and the Tourette Syndrome. Meanwhile, many studies have shown that people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) tend to have a lesser volume in the hippocampus. For those unfamiliar with this term, the hippocampus is the vital area which deals with emotion and memory storage. Victims of PTSD display biochemical changes in the brain which differ from other psychiatric disorders such as clinical depression.

Biochemistry and Anxiety Disorders

While the various types of anxiety disorders may fluctuate in the extent to which they affect their victims as well as the symptoms they give rise to, what remains common among all the disorders is that biochemistry has an increasingly high role to play in properly diagnosing and treating the many forms of anxiety disorders.

Furthermore, with the increased study of anxiety and its resulting disorders, we are bound to see the importance of biochemistry jumping by leaps and bounds. For instance, in 2009 researchers found that a receptor for glutamate, i.e. the most prominent neurotransmitter in the brain, can be used to start a process of ‘unlearning’. These astonishing findings could mean a new dawn in the treatment of disorders such as the PTSD as a patient’s worst fears could easily be blocked out by ‘unlearning’ their darkest and most fearful memories.