THE NEUROANATOMY OF PANIC DISORDER - THE EMERGING ROLE OF THE RIGHT PARAHIPPOCAMPAL REGION

Recent brain imaging and case report data suggest that a right temporal lobe abnormality, specifically involving the right parahippocampal region, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of some forms of panic disorder. The authors explore the interesting link between ictal fear in complex partial epilepsy, case reports of panic patients with focal temporal lobe pathology, and cocaine-induced panic. This is systematized into a proposed neuroanatomic theory of the pathogenesis of panic disorder involving the right temporal lobe and other brain regions.