zebra fish

What do we anxiety sufferers have in common with zebra fish? A lot, it turns out. Scientists have discovered a set of neurons in the brains of zebra fish that may be responsible for anxiety.

In a study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research trained larval zebra fish to swim away from a light in order to avoid a mild electric shock. Normal fish learned to avoid the light, but fish with damaged neurons in the hebenula, an area of the brain responsible for reward processing and stress, showed signs of “helplessness.” This group of fish no longer swam away from the light and also showed signs of “anxiousness,” such as a strong startle response to non-harmful stimuli.

I can relate to those zebra fish. I’ve been that stressed out, anxious zebra fish with the damaged brain, frozen in the water, unable to swim, no longer caring about or even feeling the electric shocks. Instead, I sink down to the bottom of the water, hiding behind a rock where no one can find me until I feel safe enough to come out.

The good news for me and others with anxiety is that because the brain of a zebra fish is similar to a mammalian brain, scientists may have discovered a possible cause of anxiety disorders in humans. Stimulation of the habenula in humans, as well as drugs targeted to the habenula, may be an effective treatment for anxiety in the near future.

Until then, I’ll just keep swimming.