Anxiety Disorder Therapy Silences Brain’s Fear Neurons, Neuroscientists Conclude

Exposure therapy, a method in which those with anxiety disorders gradual faces their fear in a rehabilitative effort, is said to rebuild the inhibitory junction in the amygdala, the brain region associated with fear in humans and mice. The study was conducted by a team of neuroscientists at Tufts University. “We showed that the remodeling of perisomatic inhibitory synapses is closely linked to the activity state of fear neurons. Our findings shed new light on the precise location where mechanisms of fear regulation might act. We hope that this will lead to new drug targets for improving exposure therapy,” said a study author, Stéphanie Trouche, PhD. Click here to read the study details.