Friday, 10 July 2020

New insights into anxiety

A study by the University of Trento published in Scientific Reports sheds light on the source of anxiety to treat it as soon as symptoms appear

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Tension while waiting for test results, the fear of not making it, the feeling of being under pressure, apprehension: these emotional states often come with physical illnesses like backache, headache, nausea, tachycardia, tremors, difficulty breathing, dizziness. These illnesses, which vary in intensity and duration, are all associated with anxiety, which includes a variety of disorders.

There is no definite cure for anxiety. But neuro-scientific research is making progress to develop new diagnostic tools and more efficient treatments.

The study conducted by researchers of the University of Trento, which has just been published in Scientific Reports, pursues these goals and helps draw a line between different aspects of anxiety and to find the best treatment for each one.

The team of researchers focused on what goes on in the brain of people with the two main types of the condition: trait and state anxiety, respectively the temporary and the stable, chronic form of the disease.

Clinical experience shows, among other things, that individuals with trait anxiety have difficulties managing stressful situations, are at risk of depression, have altered cognitive functions, are less socially competitive and tend to develop psychopathological disorders.

Trait anxiety correlates to permanent anatomic features (in the anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex) while state anxiety manifests with temporary reactions in the brain activity.

Differentiating between trait and state anxiety is helpful to choose the most appropriate treatment for patients and to prevent the condition from becoming chronic.

The study conducted by the University of Trento also led to findings that can be useful in clinical practice. 

The press release includes the comments of Nicola De Pisapia, researcher of the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science of the University of Trento and scientific coordinator of the study.

About the article
The article “Trait and state anxiety are mapped differently in the human brain”, which appeared on 6 July 2020 in “Scientific Reports”, was written by  Francesca Saviola and Jorge Jovich (of the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences of the University of Trento) with Edoardo Pappaianni, Alessandro Grecucci and Nicola De Pisapia (Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science of the University of Trento) and with Alessia Monti (Department of Neuroriabilitative Sciences, Casa di cura privata del Policlinico, Milan).
The full article is available in different formats at
(DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68008-z)