Xie Mingjun, Xiong Ying, Wang Haijun
School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2024 Dec 4;15:1437476. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1437476. eCollection 2024.
Anxiety disorders, common yet impactful emotional disturbances, significantly affect physical and mental health globally. Many neuron circuits are associated with anxiety regulation like septo-hippocampal loop, amygdala(AMYG), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), ventral hippocampus (vHPC), and brain regions like medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, the concrete mechanism of anxiety disorder in BNST is relatively unknown. Recent research showed BNST plays a critical role in modulating anxiety owing to its anatomical location and special circuit characteristics, which are considered to be a hub in the limbic system regulating anxiety. BNST consists with multiple subregions, which can project separately into different brain regions and exert projecting independently to various brain regions with distinct regulatory effects. Moreover, multiple signal pathways in BNST are reported to play significant roles in regulating anxiety and stress behavior. This review briefly describes anxiety disorders and subdivisions and functions of BNST, focusing on the main neural circuits that serve as fundamental pathways in both the genesis and potential treatment of anxiety disorders and the molecular mechanism of BNST on anxiety. The complexity of structures and mechanisms has facilitated the development of imaging techniques. Innovative multimodal imaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), have non-invasively illuminated BNST activities and their functional connections with other brain areas. These methodologies provide a deeper understanding of how BNST responds to anxiety-inducing stimuli, offering invaluable insights into its complex role in anxiety regulation. The continued exploration of BNST in anxiety research promises not only to elucidate fundamental neurobiological mechanisms but also to foster advancements in clinical treatments for anxiety disorders.
焦虑症是常见且影响重大的情绪障碍，在全球范围内对身心健康有显著影响。许多神经回路与焦虑调节相关，如隔海马环路、杏仁核（AMYG）、终纹床核（BNST）、腹侧海马（vHPC），以及内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）等脑区。然而，BNST在焦虑症中的具体机制相对不明。最近的研究表明，由于其解剖位置和特殊的回路特征，BNST在调节焦虑方面起着关键作用，被认为是调节焦虑的边缘系统中的一个枢纽。BNST由多个亚区域组成，这些亚区域可分别投射到不同的脑区，并独立地向各个脑区投射，发挥不同的调节作用。此外，据报道BNST中的多种信号通路在调节焦虑和应激行为中发挥重要作用。本综述简要描述了焦虑症以及BNST的细分和功能，重点关注在焦虑症的发生和潜在治疗中作为基本途径的主要神经回路，以及BNST对焦虑的分子机制。结构和机制的复杂性推动了成像技术的发展。创新的多模态成像技术，如功能磁共振成像（fMRI）和正电子发射断层扫描（PET），已非侵入性地揭示了BNST的活动及其与其他脑区的功能连接。这些方法为深入了解BNST如何应对诱发焦虑的刺激提供了帮助，为其在焦虑调节中的复杂作用提供了宝贵的见解。在焦虑研究中对BNST的持续探索不仅有望阐明基本的神经生物学机制，还将促进焦虑症临床治疗的进展。
