{"id":106409,"date":"2024-12-02T16:03:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T16:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/?post_type=news&#038;p=106409"},"modified":"2024-12-02T16:03:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T16:03:59","slug":"a-yoga-pill-to-end-anxiety-neuroscientists-discover-a-brain-circuit-that-instantly-deflates-stress","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.stress.org\/news\/a-yoga-pill-to-end-anxiety-neuroscientists-discover-a-brain-circuit-that-instantly-deflates-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018yoga pill\u2019 to end anxiety? Neuroscientists discover a brain circuit that instantly deflates stress"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ct-rich-text-children max-w-170 mx-auto mb-7.5 font-service font-light text-left text-lg leading-6 text-primary-text-color clearfix sm:text-1xl sm:leading-7.5\" data-element=\"story-summary\">\n<ul>\n<li>Researchers have identified a brain pathway that<b>\u00a0<\/b>regulates breathing and calms the mind.<\/li>\n<li>It could pave the way for new medications, like a so-called \u201cyoga pill,\u201d to ease anxiety.<\/li>\n<li>The discovery also grounds ancient wellness practices, such as yoga and breath work, in science.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ct-rich-text-children font-body font-normal text-lg leading-7.75 text-primary-text-color clearfix max-w-170 mt-7.5 mb-10 mx-auto\" data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Your heart is racing, your arms are tingling and your breathing is shallow. You\u2019re having an anxiety attack. And you\u2019re in a public place, to boot. A crowded restaurant, say, or at the office. Not a space where you can comfortably lie on the ground and do some deep breathing exercises to calm yourself.<\/p>\n<p>What if there were a pill that would instead induce that kind of calm breathing for you? That scenario might be possible after a new scientific breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p>Neuroscientists at the\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Salk Institute for Biological Studies\u00a0<\/a>in La Jolla have identified a brain pathway that instantly deflates anxiety. The new study, which\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41593-024-01799-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published\u00a0<\/a>earlier this week in the scientific journal\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/neuro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nature Neuroscience<\/a>, lays out how the aforementioned brain circuit regulates voluntary breathing \u2014 meaning conscious breathing as opposed to automatic breathing that happens without your having to think about it \u2014 allowing us to slow our breath and calm our mind.<\/p>\n<p>The discovery opens up the potential for the creation of new drugs that would mimic the relaxed state common during breath work, meditation or yoga.\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/scientist\/sung-han\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sung Han<\/a>, senior author of the study, says he\u2019d like to one day see a \u201cyoga pill,\u201d as he calls it, on the market to ease anxiety. It would likely be useful for the more than 40 million adults in the U.S, who, according to the\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nami.org\/about-mental-illness\/mental-health-conditions\/anxiety-disorders\/#:~:text=Over%2040%20million%20adults%20in,develop%20symptoms%20before%20age%2021.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/a>, suffer from an anxiety disorder.<\/p>\n<p>Han says the new discovery is a real scientific breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a scientist, finding something never known before is always exciting,\u201d he told the Los Angeles Times. \u201cThis top-down breathing circuit has been a longstanding question in the neuroscience field. It\u2019s exciting to find the neural mechanism to explain how the slowing down of breathing can control negative emotions, like anxiety and fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve long known that we can control our breathing patterns to alter our state of mind \u2014 when we get stressed, we might\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/lifestyle\/story\/2024-03-25\/quick-way-reduce-stress-20-second-meditation\">take a deep, slow breath<\/a>\u00a0to feel calmer. But scientists didn\u2019t understand\u00a0<i>how<\/i>\u00a0that worked \u2014 which parts of the brain were actually slowing our breath and why that activity makes us calmer. Now they know that there is a group of cells in the cortex, the higher part of the brain responsible for more conscious, complex thought, that send messages to the brain stem, which in turn sends information to the lungs. That\u2019s the aforementioned \u201ccircuit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The discovery validates soothing behavioral practices such as\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/lifestyle\/list\/outdoor-yoga-classes-los-angeles-beach-park-paddleboard\">yoga<\/a>,\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/00000188-8da3-d982-a99b-9deb87b70000-123\" data-autoplayable-video=\"true\">mindfulness<\/a>\u00a0and even\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/newsletter\/2022-10-18\/group-therapy-chronic-stress-pandemic-group-therapy\">\u201cbox breathing\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the latter a technique that involves repeatedly breathing in, then holding your breath, for four-second counts in order to relieve stress \u2014 because it grounds these behavioral practices in science.<\/p>\n<p>But the practical applications is what makes the Salk discovery so important, Han says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt can, potentially, create a whole new class of drugs that can more specifically target anxiety disorder,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>These would differ from common anti-anxiety medications by more specifically targeting areas of the brain. Common anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax and Lexapro target multiple areas of the brain that control multiple brain processes and behaviors. It\u2019s why these drugs don\u2019t work for everyone in the same way and may create unwanted side effects. More precisely targeting an individual brain circuit makes a medication more effective and reduces potential side effects. And, in extreme cases, such a pill might be more efficient for targeting anxiety than doing breathing exercises.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re in panic, breathing techniques alone may not be sufficient to suppress anxiety,\u201d Han says.<\/p>\n<p>Han\u2019s team is now trying to find the opposite circuit \u2014 a fast breathing circuit \u2014 that\u00a0<i>increases\u00a0<\/i>anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo target the slow breathing circuit, we need to understand the opposite circuit, so we can avoid targeting it,\u201d Han says. \u201cTo relieve the anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Han hopes his findings will lead to a \u201cyoga pill,\u201d that\u2019s likely a long ways off. The research, and ensuing clinical trials, could take as much as 10 years, he says. And nothing is for certain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot say that this discovery is directly connected to the discovery of the new medication,\u201d Han says. \u201cBut I can say it\u2019s a stepping stone. We now know the pathway. That\u2019s exciting. That is the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><a href=\"http:\/\/stress.org\">For more information about stress and stress management go to stress.org.<\/a><\/h5>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/woman-holding-half-full-glass-and-white-medicine-pill-576831\/\">Photo by JESHOOTS.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"byline-prefix\">By<\/span>\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/people\/deborah-vankin\" aria-label=\"Deborah Vankin\" data-click=\"standardBylineAuthorName\">Deborah Vankin<\/a><span class=\"author-title\">Staff Writer\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/lifestyle\/story\/2024-11-27\/brain-circuit-breathing-discovery-yoga-pill-salk-institute\">OP- LA Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers have identified a brain pathway that\u00a0regulates breathing and calms the mind. It could pave the way for new medications, like a so-called \u201cyoga pill,\u201d to ease anxiety. The discovery [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[12,178,194,142,15,688],"tags":[136,137,141,143,155,147],"class_list":["post-106409","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adult-stress","category-burnout","category-family-stress","category-health","category-mental-health","category-stress-tools","tag-ais","tag-american-institute-of-stress","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-research","tag-stress-management","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A \u2018yoga pill\u2019 to end anxiety? 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