Improving anxiety treatment with brain imaging

In a new article published in Biological Psychiatry on May 1st, researchers report their findings on the potential use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to match treatments for patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Subjects diagnosed with GAD underwent brain scans both before and after treatment with venlafaxine. As hypothesized, the fMRI data predicted who would do well on the drug and who would not.

They found that the larger the prefrontal cortex reaction, and the smaller the amygdala reaction, the more likely it was that the patient had a positive response to the venlafaxine.

There are no current biomarkers for predicting how well a patient will respond to anti-anxiety medicines. Patients often have to go through multiple medications and dosages to find one that works.

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