Biology of anxiety disorders

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1996, Vol 41(1), 85. This is a volume (see record 1993-97167-000) in the Progress in Psychiatry series, published by the American Psychiatric Association Scientific Program Committee in collaboration with the American Psychiatric Press. Composed of symposium papers by a renowned group of experts, it provides recent data on the neurobiology and pathophysiology of anxiety from a variety of perspectives. The contributors discuss recent advances in neuroimaging that have enhanced the study of anxiety, examine how findings regarding the biology of serotonin receptors relate to a variety of anxiety disorders, and review several kindling models that can be used to understand mechanisms that affect responsivity to panic-inducing stimuli. Also examined are peripheral physiological manifestations of anxiety, including recent findings on the physiological expression of anxiety disorders, and the relationship between these objective bodily changes and the subjective perception of these changes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)