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By Traci Pedersen
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 25, 2010

Scientists have long wondered why people with anxiety often seem paralyzed when it comes to decision-making.   A new study reveals that people with anxiety have decreased neural inhibition in their brain, a process in which one nerve cell suppresses activity in another.

For the study, researchers wanted to test the theory that neural inhibition in the brain plays a big role in decision-making.  So they developed a computer model of the brain called a “neural network simulation.”

“We found that if we increased the amount of inhibition in this simulated brain, our system got much better at making hard choices,” said Hannah Snyder, a psychology graduate student who worked with the researchers on the study.

“If we decreased inhibition in the brain, then the simulation had much more trouble making choices.”

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/25/why-anxious-minds-cant-think-right/18743.html