An Experiment in Curing Anxiety Disorders and Panic Attacks

The treatment of Anxiety Disorders and Panicthe brain's own safety signal. They report on their
Attacks has engaged many doctors and researchersfindings in the November 7, 2002 issue of the Nature
with mixed success, but some experiments on ratspublication.
have given some useful pointers to the use of theDr Quirk explained that repeated exposure to
Amygdala Gland and how it can be re-programmed totraumatic reminders without any adverse
alleviate anxiety disorders and panic attacks.consequences causes those fear responses to
Researchers who were funded by the Nationalgradually disappear. This reduction of fear appears to
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have discovered abe an active rather than passive process, So it doesn't
new high tech way to quell panic in rats. They haveerase the fear association from memory, but
detected the brain's equivalent of an 'all clear' signal,generates a new memory for safety purposes
that, when simulated, reduces the effects of fear, andThe researchers recorded electrical activity of neurons
can even eliminate it altogether. This discovery couldin the prefrontal cortex as rats were fear-conditioned
lead to physiological treatments for extreme fearby teaching them to fear a sound by repeatedly
responses seen in anxiety disorders that would notpairing it with an electrical shock. Then they abolished
require any medication.this conditioned fear by presenting the sound without
Rats normally freeze with fear when they hear a tonethe shock; the animals no longer froze when they
they have been conditioned to associate with anheard the tone. The part of the brain that was
electric shock. Dr. Gregory Quirk and Mohammedconditioned to stop the anxiety is the Amygdala Gland,
Milad, from the Ponce School of Medicine in Puertoand this treatment has been found to be very
Rico, have now demonstrated that stimulating a partsuccessful in treating anxiety and panic attacks in
of the front area of the brain known as the prefrontalhumans.
cortex, extinguishes this fear response by mimicking