Which statement about GABA’s role in anxiety disorders is accurate?

Which statement about GABA’s role in anxiety disorders is accurate?

• A. GABA is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter; reduced GABAergic function contributes to increased anxiety; benzodiazepines enhance GABA-A receptor activity.
• B. GABA excitess neurons and increases anxiety.
• C. GABA is not involved in anxiety.
• D. GABA only influences appetite.

Answer: (A)

GABA’s role in anxiety centers on its function as the brain’s primary inhibitory transmitter. It normally dampens neural firing, helping to keep arousal and worry in check. When GABAergic signaling is reduced, there’s less inhibition in circuits that drive fear and anxious thoughts, which can manifest as increased anxiety. Benzodiazepines help by enhancing this system: they bind to the GABA-A receptor and boost the receptor’s response to GABA, increasing chloride influx, strengthening inhibition, and producing anxiolytic effects. GABA doesn’t excite neurons, so statements describing it as excitatory don’t fit. It also influences many processes beyond appetite, and it is indeed involved in anxiety, not absent from it.

GABA’s role in anxiety centers on its function as the brain’s primary inhibitory transmitter. It normally dampens neural firing, helping to keep arousal and worry in check. When GABAergic signaling is reduced, there’s less inhibition in circuits that drive fear and anxious thoughts, which can manifest as increased anxiety. Benzodiazepines help by enhancing this system: they bind to the GABA-A receptor and boost the receptor’s response to GABA, increasing chloride influx, strengthening inhibition, and producing anxiolytic effects.

GABA doesn’t excite neurons, so statements describing it as excitatory don’t fit. It also influences many processes beyond appetite, and it is indeed involved in anxiety, not absent from it.