Picture of an Anxious Brain
The brain, to my mind, is the final frontier that is still being explored and with each exploration we learn more of its incredible secrets. The latest finding on social phobia is brought to us through SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) scans which have now verified the biological basis of this problem. We know that two specific neurotransmitters (serotonin and dopamine) seem to be related to the disorder and a small study in Europe has now confirmed an imbalance in the functioning of these chemicals in the brain. The study was published in the May issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Some 15 million adults in the US suffer from social anxiety disorder.The researchers point out that this is an important first step to making a connection between the disorder and a biological basis for it. They do, however, caution that they can't say whether the people in the sample had the imbalance prior to the appearance of the disorder. So it would seem that this is yet another example supporting a biologic, genetic, environmental basis for some anxiety disorders and to treat them as medical disorders.
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Image Credit: SNM.org
Technorati Tags: SPECT, social phobia, neurotransmitters, anxiety, imaging
1 Comments:
I have an opposing theory. Since they have no "pre" scan, it can't be determined here whether it's a chicken or an egg thing. My theory is that the brain is lowering it's level of neurotransmitters on it's own and on purpose. It is my theory that this is the brains way of protecting itself from whatever is truly causing the anxiety. This theory is reinforced by the fact that by simply boosting neurotransmitters through the use of SSRI's doesn't help all or even a majority of panic patients. If it were just a matter of low levels of these transmitters, this shouldn't be the case. It is also telling that many anxiety and panic patients suffer MORE attacks and anxiety when first starting or switching SSRI's. By taking an SSRI, one is defeating the brains self defense mechanism and causing more aggravation to the brain. In other words, lowered neurotransmitters are a SYMPTOM of the anxiety disorder, which in turn is caused by some other underlying biological mechanism. I would suggest taking a look and the 16 or so medical studies that link panic/anxiety to an underlying cerabellar/vestibular nexus.
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