Our brains create marvelous simulations of the world. The length of a light wave hitting the retina, or a delicate stimulation of the auditory nerve, can generate a rich memory or a sudden physical response. Your brain decides the difference between experiencing the laughter of a child, or the firing of a gun.
Unfortunately, our brains are not perfect. They tell many of us to be anxious minutes after we have finally finished a dangerous commute, or to respond with anxiety when standing to make a small speech at a birthday party. They even tell us to be anxious when everything is going fine, just because an unconscious memory has been activated.
Anxiety is misplaced fear, the result of a survival mechanism that was very effective in the Pleistocene, but which rarely works well today. Today, anxiety almost always interferes with our lives by sapping emotional energy. It is what our bodies do when we can neither fight nor flee—which is most of the time.
Anxiety can be quelled by using prescription drugs, taking calming herbs, applying cognitive behavioral psychological techniques, or learning to meditate. All of these methods affect the basal ganglia and the amygdala.
The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure sitting roughly half-way between the corner of your eye and the center of your ear, about one inch inside. You have two, one in either brain hemisphere. The amygdala has many functions, but its primary task is to act as your brain’s alarm system-- it tells the rest of your brain how scared you ought to be. It sits at the end of your limbic system, right next to the hypothalamus, which (not surprisingly) controls the famous fight-or-flight response. It also has connections to another important limbic structure, the basal ganglia, which sets the anxiety level of the body.
Increased basal ganglia activity is often found in anxiety disorders. Increased activity on the left side it is associated with anxiety and irritability and increased activity on the right side is related to anxiety, social withdrawal and conflict avoidance.
Remember, the amygdala tells these other structures how much fear they should create. They are all ancient brain parts, from early periods of evolution. They work with the sympathetic nervous system to control heartbeat and the rate of breathing, for instance. They function on an almost entirely unconscious level. And they evolved so long ago that their design has trouble telling the difference between falling off a cliff and descending in an elevator, or between the howling of a predator and the screeching of a car’s wheels. They can make us a great deal more anxious than we need to be.
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