Scientists show how brain circuit generates anxiety

Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have identified a neural circuit in the amygdala, the brain's seat of emotion processing, that gives rise to anxiety. 

The central amygdala forges strong inhibitory connections with the BNST. To learn about what happens to these connections during anxiety, his team genetically manipulated one specific type of neuron called SOM+ because of a peptide they express called somatostatin. The team traced the mechanism behind this anxiety within a circuit that runs between the central amygdala and the BNST. The process leading to anxiety began with increased excitation of SOM+ neurons in the central amygdala. Source

Journal Reference:

Sandra Ahrens, Melody V. Wu, Alessandro Furlan, Ga-Ram Hwang, Raehum Paik, Haohong Li, Mario A. Penzo, Jessica Tollkuhn and Bo Li Journal of Neuroscience 13 June 2018, 38 (24) 5567-5583; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0705-18.2018