Researchers at LIBR Identify Abnormal Heart-Brain Connection in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

February 2, 2022

Researchers at LIBR Identify Abnormal Heart-Brain Connection in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Researchers at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, Okla., have identified an abnormal link between the autonomic and central nervous systems, specifically via communication between the heart and part of the brain’s frontal cortex, in women with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

The research findings, “Association of Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Autonomic Hypersensitivity and Blunted Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Activity During Peripheral Adrenergic Stimulation,” were published in the February 2, 2022 edition of JAMA Psychiatry.

The research team included the late Jerzy Bodurka, PhD from LIBR and The University of Oklahoma (OU-Tulsa) and was led by senior author Sahib Khalsa, MD, PhD, also an associate professor in the Oxley College of Health Sciences at The University of Tulsa, and lead author Adam Teed, PhD, and additional authors from LIBR. Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD)rounded out the team.

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