‘Yoga pill’ could one day stop anxiety attacks by targeting specific brain area: study

Yoga in a bottle?

Scientists have identified the specific part of the brain that controls conscious breathing and meditation techniques – and said the discovery could create a whole new class of anti-anxiety drugs they’re calling “yoga pills”.

The pill can make a person suffering from a panic or anxiety attack automatically slow and deepen their breathing without having to think and force themselves to do the breathing exercise, neuroscientist Sung Han told the Los Angeles Times.

Han’s research – published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience earlier this week – marks a major breakthrough in the field of neuroscience.

For the first time, the study identified the group of cells in the brain’s cortex that are responsible for the conscious work of breathing rather than the automatic breathing that humans and other animals do 24/7 without thinking.

It also scientifically proves that breathing exercises, meditation and yoga help reduce anxiety and explains how they all work.

“As a scientist, finding something previously unknown is always exciting,” he told the LA Times. “This top-down breathing circuit has been a long-standing question in the field of neuroscience. It is exciting to find the neural mechanism to explain how slowing breathing can control negative emotions, such as anxiety and fear.”

The potential for scientific development is huge, according to Han. It could mean creating new anti-anxiety drugs that are much more targeted than those currently available – and potentially with fewer side effects.

“It could, potentially, create a whole new class of drugs that could more specifically target anxiety disorder,” the neuroscientist told the paper.

Future drugs could mimic the experience and results of yoga and other meditative activities—hence Han came up with the name “yoga pill.”

Anxiety medications currently on the market, such as Xanax, affect many areas of the brain that control various behaviors, but drugs that Han hopes to see in the future will target only the brain circuit responsible for controlled, conscious breathing, making the most infallible one. and with fewer side effects.

As their next step, Han and his team are trying to locate the part of the brain that has the opposite effect, the one that increases breathing rate and anxiety, he told the LA Times.

“To target the slow breathing circuit, we need to understand the reverse circuit so we can avoid targeting it,” Han said. “To relieve anxiety.”

The development and availability of a “yoga pill” is likely a decade away, but the scientist hopes it will be on the way soon.

“I can’t say that this discovery is directly related to the discovery of the new drug,” Han told the paper. “But I can say it’s a stepping stone. Now we know the way. This is exciting. This is the first step.”

More than 40 million adults in the US have an anxiety disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health.