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The pathophysiology of panic anxiety has been known for some time to involve a hyperactive suffocation response and deficient mitigation of arousal by systems in which γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the neurotransmitter. Now, researchers examine the influence of orexin (hypocretin), a neurotransmitter that is synthesized in the dorsomedial-perifornical and lateral hypothalami and that regulates arousal, wakefulness, vigilance, and the sympathetic nervous system.
In an established rodent model of panic anxiety, sodium lactate, which induces panic attacks in vulnerable animals and people, selectively activated neurons that produce orexin. Researchers attenuated panic with two methods: by interfering with translation of the orexin gene or by adm…