Psychotherapy with demonstrable effect in the brain

Researchers are demonstrating the effective effect of psychotherapy in the brain

01/04/2013

Psychotherapy promises considerable treatment success in patients with panic disorder. So far, however, the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on the brain are largely unclear. Now, scientists from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Philipps University in Marburg an der Lahn have demonstrated changes in the brains of panic patients through behavioral therapy using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

According to the research team, psychotherapy leads to Professor Tilo Kircher and dr. Benjamin Straube from the Philipps University in Marburg on measurable changes in the frontal lobe of the brain. Thus, psychotherapy has been shown to have a neuronal effect. Previously hyperactive brain areas of panic patients are down regulated by behavioral therapy, the researchers write in the journal „Biological Psychiatry“.

„Learning through conditioning is an important ability of animals and humans to acquire new behaviors“, To ensure survival in a changing environment, the researchers explain in their recent article. Cognitive behavioral therapy takes advantage of this in the treatment of panic disorders with agoraphobia. In the course of treatment, the patients are conditioned to the individual triggers of their panic attacks. The underlying neuronal mechanisms, however, were previously unknown.

Activities in the brain regulated by psychotherapy
In their study, the scientists analyzed the fMRI images of the brain of 42 healthy volunteers and 42 panic patients. Subjects completed 12 sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy, with fMRI examinations performed at baseline, during and post-treatment. On the pictures, after completing psychotherapy, there was one „reduces activation for the conditional reaction in the lower left frontal turn“ To recognize the brain of the panic patients compared to the control persons, the researchers report. These hyperactive brain regions prior to panic treatment had reduced their activities to normal levels during treatment. In addition, it was also evident in the fMRI studies that the left inferior frontal gyrus had an increased connectivity to the brain regions of the panic patients „Fear network“(Amygdala, insula, anterior cingulum), scientists write.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been proven to be effective
The study shows the cerebral correlates of cognitive and emotional processing in the brain of the panic patients and their change in the course of behavioral therapy, the experts explain. The effects of psychotherapy on fear conditioning or the corresponding changes in the brain are therefore measurable. „Further research in this direction has promising potential for the development and optimization of targeted treatments“ of panic disorders, the researchers concluded. For the approximately four percent of the population, who suffer from panic disorders in this country, however, the realization that cognitive behavioral therapies help against their panic attacks is of crucial importance. Because the sudden onset of anxiety, which is often accompanied by accompanying symptoms such as palpitations, sweating or hyperventilation, often causes significant impairment of quality of life. In addition, as an alternative to behavioral therapy, panic patients usually only have pharmacotherapy available, which, however, may be associated with significant side effects. All the more gratifying that psychotherapy has been shown to be effective against panic disorders. (Fp)

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Image: Gerd Altmann, Pixelio.de