Tim Newman

Glutamate is an amino acid and the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. In recent years, studies have hinted that glutamate might be involved in anxiety.

Reductions in glutamate activity seem to increase anxious behavior, and glutamate levels within the hippocampus — which is the part of the brain primarily involved in regulating emotions and memory — seem particularly important.

Earlier studies have also concluded that two other regions of the brain work with the hippocampus to modulate anxiety; called area 25 and area 32, these regions form part of the prefrontal cortex.