Biochemistry and Anxiety

Doctor Daniel Pine explains that although a lot of work remains to be done, noerpinephrine (noradrenalin) and serotonin are important to understanding the biochemistry of anxiety.

For many, many years, there have been questions about the nature of the relationship between different chemicals in the brain and problems in functioning emotionally. In terms of problems with fear and anxiety, there has been far more consistent interest in norepinephrine and serotonin than there has been in dopamine. While this interest has remained strong, there have been longstanding questions about what is the precise nature of the relationship between problems in any of these chemicals and problems in terms of clinically relevant functioning. So, we do know that medications that change either norepinephrine or serotonin can be quite effective and helpful to patients and that has kind of sustained this interest – both in norepinephrine and in serotonin. However, how exactly it is that these medications work, or what is exactly the nature of the relationship between changes in brain chemistry and changes in how patients are functioning, is something that is still very early in terms of where research is going.