The developmental origins of anxiety

Abstract

Anxiety is a mental state that is elicited in anticipation of threat or potential threat. Sensations of anxiety are a normal part of human experience, but excessive or inappropriate anxiety can become an illness. In this review, we consider the evidence for anxiety as a product of early environmental experiences, the impacts of which are modulated by genetic susceptibility factors. We propose that such interactions can induce persistent structural and functional changes in the brain that underlie susceptibility to anxiety. Investigation of the molecular nature of these factors and the plastic changes that they induce has the potential to reveal why different individuals experience different levels of anxiety.