| April 4, 2024byDr. Monica M. Bertagnolli Theres a good reason you feel fear creep in when youre walking alone at night in an unfamiliar place or hear a loud and unexpected noise ring out. In those moments, your brain triggers other parts of your nervous system to set a stress response in motion throughout your body. Its that fear-driven survival response that keeps you alert, ready to fight or flee if the need arises. But when acute anxiety or traumatic events lead to fear that becomes generalizedoccurring often and in situations that arent threateningthis can lead to debilitating anxiety disorders, includingpost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Just what happens in the brains circuitry to turn a healthy fear response into one thats harmful hasnt been well understood. Now, research findings by a team led byNicholas Spitzerand Hui-Quan Li at the University of California San Diego and reported in the journalScience have pinpointed changes in the biochemistry of the brain and neural circuitry that lead to generalized fear.The intriguing findings, from research supported in part by NIH, raise the possibility that it might be possible to prevent or reverse this process with treatments targeting this fear switch. | 