ROLE OF THE BED NUCLEUS IN NORMAL AND GENERALIZED ANXIETY

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Anxiety manifests itself as a fear, namely a cued anxiety, or in a generalized "free floating" form. Animal and human studies demonstrated the role of the amygdala in the acquisition of cued anxiety. However, recent animal studies suggest that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), rather than the amygdala, is essential in manifestations of uncued anxiety. Therefore, Davis (1) has proposed, that a dysfunction in the BNST may be responsible for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The aim of the proposed study is to examine the effects of two anxiety-provoking tasks, one cued and one uncued, on the amygdala and BNST in individuals with GAD and non-anxious controls, using new imaging techniques developed in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. These novel neuroimaging methods permit, for the first time, analysis of brain activation in extremely small brain regions, such as the BNST. A demonstration that the BNST is, in contrast to the amygdala, more activated by non-cued than cued tasks and more activated in individuals with generalized anxiety would significantly advance our knowledge of the neurobiology of normal and pathological anxiety in humans. Moreover, it would set the stage for future studies to assess the effects of various treatment interventions on BNST activity in pathological anxiety states. Collaboration with members of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University will permit above outlined explorations that may have a significant expansion of our knowledge of the neurobiology of anxiety.