The review article by James M. Taylor & Paul J. Whalen (2015) discusses the neural regions and networks frequently associated in anxiety disorders. Specifically, the authors discuss the role of the amygdala, prefrontal cortex (PFC) and insula in anxiety disorders. One of the more reliable findings across studies of the anxiety disorders is amygdala hyperresponsivity. To illustrate, a study done by Hariri and colleagues discovered that amygdala reactivity to environmental threat is controlled by a regulatory variant (5-HTTLPR) in the human serotonin transporter gene. Specifically, their work shows that hyper-reactivity in the amygdala is short allele driven. These results were consistent with other studies investigating the role of the amygdala in anxiety disorders. PFC’s involvement in anxiety disorder is evident in
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Furthermore, the conclusion of this article reminds me of a TED talk by Dr. Daniel Amen, where he discussed what he and his colleagues learned from 83,000 brain scans. In his talk, he stated that disorders such as ADHD, anxiety, depression etc. are not simple disorders and that they all have multiple types. As an example, he showed a brain scan of two patients diagnosed with major depression and exhibits similar symptoms. The scan showed that one patient had high activity in the associated areas, whereas the other patient had low activity in those areas. This is consistent with the idea the authors make in this article that the phenotypes of anxiety could be a result of hyopoactivation or hyperactivation. If this were the case, how would one know how to proceed with treatment just by interviewing patients? Psychiatry/psychology is the only field in medicine that doesn't look inside the organ to be treated. Ideally, this shouldn't be the case and treatment shouldn't be based on symptoms alone. Hopefully this practice changes with improvements in the neuroimaging
Furthermore, the conclusion of this article reminds me of a TED talk by Dr. Daniel Amen, where he discussed what he and his colleagues learned from 83,000 brain scans. In his talk, he stated that disorders such as ADHD, anxiety, depression etc. are not simple disorders and that they all have multiple types. As an example, he showed a brain scan of two patients diagnosed with major depression and exhibits similar symptoms. The scan showed that one patient had high activity in the associated areas, whereas the other patient had low activity in those areas. This is consistent with the idea the authors make in this article that the phenotypes of anxiety could be a result of hyopoactivation or hyperactivation. If this were the case, how would one know how to proceed with treatment just by interviewing patients? Psychiatry/psychology is the only field in medicine that doesn't look inside the organ to be treated. Ideally, this shouldn't be the case and treatment shouldn't be based on symptoms alone. Hopefully this practice changes with improvements in the neuroimaging