Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:838-849
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Anxiety and cerebral blood flow
RJ Mathew and WH Wilson
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
The relationship between anxiety and cerebral blood flow (CBF) is of
considerable clinical and research significance. Although a considerable
amount of information is available on mechanisms through which anxiety may
influence CBF, this topic has not received much attention in psychiatry.
Earlier techniques for the measurement of CBF were cumbersome and invasive.
With the advent of noninvasive techniques, study of CBF in psychiatric
disorders, including anxiety, became easier, and a number of such studies
have been conducted. In this article the literature on psychophysiological
and clinical aspects of changes in CBF associated with anxiety is reviewed.
