Scientists have discovered a gene responsible for panic disorder, it has been announced.
The Spanish researchers say their work points to a gene NTRK3 as being responsible for increasing the risk of developing the disorder.
The condition causes sufferers to over-react to anxiety, getting into a panic about minor situations.
The scientists say their research has identified a defect in the way the brain stores memories of situations of panic as causing the disorder – which tends to develop in people in their 20s.
They say that environmental stress is also a key trigger.
The work at the Spanish Centre for Genomic Regulation has been published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Researcher Mara Dierssen said: "We have observed that deregulation of NTRK3 produces changes in brain development that lead to malfunctions in the fear-related memory system."
“In particular, this system is more efficient at processing information to do with fear, the thing that makes a person overestimate the risk in a situation and therefore feel more frightened and, also, that stores that information in a more lasting and consistent manner."
Hippocampal Hyperexcitability Underlies Enhanced Fear Memories in TgNTRK3, a Panic Disorder Mouse Model. Journal of Neuroscience 28 November 2013; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2161-13.2013
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