We all experience some sort of anxiety throughout our lifetime; whether it was anxiety of speaking in front of a class or flying on a plane. You start to sweat, your heart races, and you can even feel heavy pressure on your chest. The overwhelming feeling of fear and distress takes over your body and in most cases it's hard to control. But what really happens to our brain when you feel anxious?
With the help of brain imaging technology, scientists discovered that the amygdala and the hippocampus play a role in anxiety and most anxiety disorders. The amygdala relates to fear, memory, and emotion and coordinates these with heart, blood pressure, and other physical responses. It is a structure deep in the brain that can alert the rest of the brain of a threat and trigger a fear or anxiety response. Along with the amygdala, the hippocampus is the part of the brain that encodes threatening events into memories. Both the amygdala and the hippocampus communicate with each other to ultimately initiate a "fight or flight" response.
What I found interesting when researching was that antxiety is not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain or caused by genes. Rather, biochemical factors such as neurotransmitters contribute to anxiety. Some neurotransmitters targeted in anxiety disorders are gamma aminobutyric acid (sends messages through the nervous system), serotonin (regulates mood), dopamine (control the brains reward and pleasure centers), and epinephrine (also known as adrenaline).
Next time you find yourself in an overwhelming situation, which causes you to have anxiety, just remember there are many natural remedies to overcome it such as simply breathing or even meditation! Life is too short to be worried all the time!
Posted by Angela Driscoll (group A)
Source of article:http://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/anxiety-and-human-brain-what-happens-when-anxiety-attacks-345514
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/05/anxiety.aspx
Source of pictures: http://herb.co/2016/03/22/if-marijuana-gives-you-anxiety-you-need-this/
http://betterrelationships.org.au/wpcontent/uploads/2016/06/400x302xanxietybrain.jpg.pagespeed.ic.00x-PPSjEQ.jpg
Very informative post, Angela! It's interesting to learn how exactly anxiety works, especially since it is something everyone experiences. It's kind of surprising that it isn't caused by a chemical imbalance because I feel like that's what many people assume (that there is something wrong with those who feel anxious). However, like you said it affects everyone and is completely normal. Do you know if it's an imbalance of neurotransmitters that cause the anxious response or are the neurotransmitters released in response to the your nerves which then causesthe response?
ReplyDeletePosted by Jenna Lansbury
Thanks Jenna! Im glad you learned something from this post :) At first I thought it was caused by some sort of imbalance in the brain however, it is those neurotransmitters that are released when you are anxious! The couple I mentioned are not the only ones, I am sure there are far more that are released. These neurotransmitters could relate to certain emotional or responses that could be displayed when you are anxious or have a anxiety disorder.
DeletePosted by Angela Driscoll (group A)
I enjoyed learning more about anxiety because almost everyone deals with it often! Ive always wondered if it was a genetic thing and because im so shy and scared of public speaking or more of an introvert that causes me to have more anxiety than others. Besides natural remedies to help aid with anxiety are their drugs that people can get prescribed and what do those drugs do to our bodies natural setting. I once heard that a big reason why humans are always stressed or have more disease and illness than every other animal on Earth is because we dont shut off our fight or flight instinct and its on even when were in an uncomfortable situation, something as simple as public speaking. Does having too much anxiety take a toll on your health or is it normal to feel anxious often?
ReplyDeleteHi, as someone who is perpetually anxious, I thought I'd weigh in. From my personal history with anxiety and consults with doctors, I've learned that it definitely can be genetic. I say "can be" because things like anxiety don't seem to fit a one-size-fits-all diagnostic model. The problem seems to be that people often treat anxiety as an ailment in and of itself (which it totally can be), but forget that it can also be a symptom of a much broader systemic, genetic disorder. For example, people, like myself, with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome are highly prone to anxiety due to comorbidity with dysautonomia (an autonomic nervous disorder). I don't know if that was helpful, but hopefully it might have been.
DeletePosted by Owen Mulledy
Being anxious and having fear is not always a bad thing! Our ancestors needed that trait in order to survive and reproduce. Being anxious and fearful kept them alive because they were always prepared for the worst. Therefore, the people that had higher levels of anxiety, survived more often! That is why it is rooted in our brains!
ReplyDeletePosted by Caitlin Lohr
I like your point Caitlin! Being anxious could in some way be an advantage us humans possess! I personally did not know that about our ancestors and it is quite interesting! Thanks for informing me :)
DeletePosted by Angela Driscoll (group A)
I find it really interesting that probably all people experience anxiety at least once in their lives. I think it is even more interesting how variable anxiety can be depending on the person. Some people will only experience being anxious a few times in their life whereas other people suffer every day from crippling disorders which stems from anxiety. I wonder if the extent of a person’s anxiety depends on the amount of neurotransmitters that are targeted in the brain. I never knew what the cause of anxiety was, but it’s good to know!
ReplyDeletePosted by Taylor Irwin
I think I was so interested in this topic because a lot of college students like ourselves experience a great amount of anxiety! I feel like it could relate to everyone even the younger and older audience. Thats a great question and something that includes in depth research! That could be a good hypothesis by predicting if the release of more neurotransmitters could cause a more intense feeling of anxiety. Definitely something to look into!
DeletePosted by Angela Driscoll (group A)
What a great post! I think that this is such a relatable topic especially in college because even if you don’t necessarily have an anxiety disorder there are certainly situations that can provoke this feeling. One of the things we learned in my behavior neuroscience class was different ways that anxiety medications work. Whether it’s leaving serotonin in the synapse for a longer amount of time or blocking certain receptors, there is such a range. I think it’s a common misconception that it is a chemical imbalance in the brain, so I really liked how you cleared that up!
ReplyDeletePosted by: Kate Masterson (Group C)
As a person who suffers from anxiety on a daily basis, this is really interesting to read about. I never knew that anxiety wasn't a chemical imbalance in the brain nor a gene related issue. I wonder if the Hippocampus and the Amygdala can give a certain level of symptoms depending on past experiences, or if that is more self-inflicted. I would have never known that it would be certain parts of the brain like the Hippocampus and the Amygdala that caused anxiety, but I'm glad I know about it now!
ReplyDeletePosted by: Givenchy Humes (Group b)
I wonder if different types of anxiety disorders are related to different neurotransmitters and whether none of them have to do with an imbalance of some sort. I'm also wondering if different neurotransmitters are either upregulated or downregulated to cause anxiety, since for example, dopamine is related to pleasure and reward and so would probably decrease in level, whereas epinepherine and other catecholamines would probably increase in level to give you that adrenaline rush. It's also interesting to think about the relationship of the amydgala and hippocampus in this matter. From what i remember, the hippocampus is more responsible for memory and the amygdala for emotion. Could it be that in the case of phobias, for example, the amygdala is triggered in response to an association of certain memories done and processed in the hippocampus?
ReplyDeletePosted by Peter Makhoul (C)
I thought this was a really interesting post. It's normal for people to experience some level of anxiety at some point in their life. However, there are some people who experience severe anxiety on a daily basis and this type of anxiety can actually interfere with their daily lives. I'll admit I am not too familiar with the biology behind what triggers anxiety but I still think genetics plays a role, especially when it comes to anxiety disorders. I think the biological mechanism you described in your post is related to a very temporary type of anxiety people deal with when they are nervous right before an exam or when they are speaking in front of an audience. Anxiety disorders are much more complex and are caused by a combination of factors so I think it's unfair not to differentiate the crippling anxiety people with anxiety disorders experience from the temporary and much less severe form of anxiety everyone experiences at some point in their life. I also found the last sentence in your post to be quite offensive because I think it belittles the struggles people with anxiety disorders go through and it makes it sound like their anxiety is a choice when it's not. It's a crippling disorder.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Katie Kossack (Group B)