Heightened anxiety with distinct prefrontal substrates is differentially sensitive to the anxiolytics, citalopram and ketamine: Prefrontal substrates and anxiolytic sensitivity.
Biological psychiatry June 25, 2025 Kevin G Mulvihill, Gemma J Cockcroft, Angela C Roberts 2 citations
Different types of anxiety, arising from distinct forms of prefrontal cortex dysregulation, respond differently to different classes of anxiolytic drugs. In marmoset monkeys, heightened threat reactivity caused by overactivation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC-14) was reduced by the SSRI citalopram, given either peripherally or directly into vmPFC-14, but inconsistently by ketamine. In contrast, heightened threat reactivity caused by inactivation of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC-11) was reduced by central ketamine but not by citalopram. This suggests that matching anxiolytic treatment to the specific neural basis of a patient's anxiety could improve treatment success.