Selective modulation of anxiety features

Researchers in Dr. Karl Deisseroth's lab have developed a selective approach to treat anxiety. Anxiety is characterized by several features that are coordinately regulated by diverse neuronal system outputs. These features range from behavioural choice patterns, such as risk avoidance, to changes in physiology exemplified by respiratory rate alterations. A major limiting step in the treatment of anxiety is the inability to selectively control the various features of the disease. For instance, some features may not be that troubling whereas others, such as elevated respiratory rate, may be debilitating or life threatening. It would be of great value to be able to individually regulate the various disease features. This technology describes a new role for the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in the coordinated modulation of diverse anxiety features and provides methods to selectively tune these features.

Stage of research
The inventors have demonstrated that distinct BNST subregions exert opposite effects in modulating anxiety and define separable anxiolytic roles for different anterodorsal BNST projections.

Ongoing research
Additional work in mapping anxiety circuitry.