Using light-sensitive drugs, they identified a promising neural pathway that could lead to more effective, safer anxiety treatments.

Targeting Anxiety with Brain Circuit Research

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have identified a specific brain circuit that, when inhibited, reduces anxiety without causing noticeable side effects — at least in preclinical models. Their findings highlight a potential new target for treating anxiety disorders and introduce a broader strategy for studying drug effects in the brain using a technique called photopharmacology.