ROLE OF THE BED NUCLEUS IN NORMAL AND GENERALIZED ANXIETY

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中的一个 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源。子项目及 研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金， 因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为 研究中心，而研究中心不一定是研究者所在的机构。 焦虑表现为恐惧，即线索焦虑，或以广义的“自由浮动”形式。动物和人类的研究证明了杏仁核在获得线索焦虑中的作用。然而，最近的动物研究表明，终纹床核（BNST），而不是杏仁核，在无线索焦虑的表现中是必不可少的。因此，Davis（1）提出，BNST的功能障碍可能是广泛性焦虑症（GAD）的原因。本研究的目的是探讨两种焦虑激发任务，一种是提示性的，一种是非提示性的，对杏仁核和BNST的影响。 使用约翰霍普金斯大学心理和脑科学系开发的新成像技术，对患有广泛性焦虑症和非焦虑控制的个体进行了研究。这些新的神经成像方法首次允许在极小的大脑区域（如BNST）中分析大脑激活。 与杏仁核相反，BNST在非线索任务中比线索任务更活跃，并且在广泛性焦虑患者中更活跃，这一证明将大大提高我们对人类正常和病理性焦虑的神经生物学知识。此外，它将为未来的研究奠定基础，以评估各种治疗干预措施对病理性焦虑状态下BNST活性的影响。 与约翰霍普金斯大学心理学和脑科学系的成员合作，将允许上述探索，可能会显着扩展我们对焦虑的神经生物学的知识。

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.