Introduction/Functional Brain Alterations in Depression and Anxiety

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Recent advances elucidated by brain imaging techniques have greatly increasedour understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of anxiety and depression. Important findings in the field were the topic of a symposiumentitled "Functional Brain Alterations in Depression and Anxiety," held in Madrid,Spain, during the Xth World Congress of Psychiatry, on August 24, 1996. Areas of focusincluded the neural structures underlying normal emotional responses; selectivealterations in regional brain function in relation to anxiety and depressive disorders;effects of antidepressants on regional brain function; functional alterations predictiveof the severity of illness and treatment response; and important methodological andexperimental design issues related to positron emission tomography (PET) and functionalmagnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques.