Psychotherapy works through the mind to alter brain function. Medications work through the brain to influence the mind. This symposium explores the clinical phenomenology and neurobiology of anxiety disorders and the mechanisms of treatment response, both psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic. Psychodynamic, cognitive and behavior therapies each contain specific ingredients that reduce anxiety. Understanding the brain processes that mediate benefits of psychotherapy enhances the choice and delivery of specific psychotherapeutic treatments.

Neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine differentially modulate activity in brain circuits relevant to anxiety. How pharmacologic manipulations of serotonin and norepinephrine reduce anxiety will be considered. The available data to support particular definitions of remission in several anxiety disorders will be assessed. Using those definitions, rates of remission attained in therapeutic trials by various medications and psychotherapies will be reviewed.

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