A gene responsible for panic disorder

Panic is extreme fear, the terror caused by the threat of imminent danger. Panic is contagious and there are even people who suffer from it frequently. This is known as panic disorder. They feel attacks of fear constantly and suddenly.

It is an anxiety disorder that has its origin in the patient’s genetics. Although factors such as stress and anxiety favor its appearance.

It may be the first time you hear about this disorder, however the World Health Organization estimates that, in Spain alone, there are a hundred people who suffer from it.

Now, researchers at the Centre de Regulació Genómica (CRG) in Barcelona have found the gene responsible for triggering this pathology. It is the NTRK3 gene, which in normal situations encodes a protein essential for brain formation and neuron survival. According to the research, the lack of control in this gene produces “changes in brain development that cause the memory system related to fear not to function properly”.

The main consequence is that the person suffering from the disorder overestimates the risks and feels more fear than usual. In addition, the memory of the fear lasts in the head for a longer period of time. The head of the Cellular and Systems Neurobiology group at the CRG, Mara Dierssen, explains that those affected suffer from an “overactivation of the hippocampus and an altered activation of the amygdala circuit”.