Key result
Recent evidence suggests that dysfunction in brain GABA-A and serotonin systems, along with altered sympathetic nervous system activity, play mechanistic roles in anxiety and panic disorders.
Highlights the mechanistic pathways linking brain neurotransmitter systems and cardiovascular regulation in anxiety and panic disorders.
May guide cautious integration of anxiolytic strategies in cardiovascular care; leaves open causal confirmation in randomized studies.
Although the complimentary roles of heart and brain in anxiety have been recognised for centuries, the precise contribution of each and more importantly perhaps their interplay has proved difficult to describe. Recent data from human brain imaging and cardiovascular physiology studies are beginning to delineate the mechanistic pathways of anxiety disorders in general and panic in particular. Evidence for a dysfunction of brain gamma-amino butyric acid-A and serotonin (5HT) systems in both panic and cardiovascular regulation is reviewed along with new evidence for altered sympathetic nervous system activity in the heart and periphery. Testable hypotheses and research ideas are suggested.
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Esler et al. (2009) conducted a review in Anxiety disorders and panic. Recent evidence suggests that dysfunction in brain GABA-A and serotonin systems, along with altered sympathetic nervous system activity, play mechanistic roles in anxiety and panic disorders.
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