Work

Prefrontal Cortical Control of Anxiety: Recent Advances

Year: 2022

Type: review

Abstract: Dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex is commonly implicated in anxiety disorders, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Approach-avoidance conflict tasks have been extensively used in animal research to better understand how changes in neural activity within the prefrontal cortex contribute to avoidance behaviors, which are believed to play a major role in the maintenance of anxiety disorders. In this article, we first review studies utilizing in vivo electrophysiology to reveal the relationship between changes in neural activity and avoidance behavior in rodents. We then review recent studies that take advantage of optical and genetic techniques to test the unique contribution of specific prefrontal cortex circuits and cell types to the control of anxiety-related avoidance behaviors. This new body of work reveals that behavior during approach-avoidance conflict is dynamically modulated by individual cell types, distinct neural pathways, and specific oscillatory frequencies. The integration of these different pathways, particularly as mediated by interactions between excitatory and inhibitory neurons, represents an exciting opportunity for the future of understanding anxiety.

Source: The Neuroscientist

DOI: 10.1177/10738584211069071

Authors: Nancy R. Mack, Suixin Deng, Sha-Sha Yang, Yousheng Shu, Wen-Jun Gao

Institutions: Drexel University, Fudan University, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Frontiers Center for Brain Science of the Ministry of Education

Language: English

Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health