She gave a clear introduction to Anxiety disorders in terms of a psychiatric disorder as well as its neurobiology. From human studies to molecular mechanisms, the evidences seemed to show that anxiety is associated with an over active Amygdala which possibly have a detrimental effect on the hippocampus mediated cognitive network.
Some of the interesting thoughts during the seminar were:
1) As anxiety prone individuals show increased Amygdala activity during presentation of happy as well as fearful images, Amygdala should not only be related to anxiety but stress response as a whole.
2) Do Amygdala on both sides act differently during anxiety.
3) Pre-exposure to mild stressors or exogenous cortisone could be benificial during a subsequent exposure.
4) Does BDNF get differentially elevated in different brain regions in response to stress?
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