Genetic and epigenetic predisposing factors of anxiety disorders Factores de predisposición genéticos y epigenéticos de los trastornos de ansiedad

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are a group of psychological and neurological disorders that represent various forms of abnormal or pathological fear and anxiety (Orozco & Baldares, 2012). Even though around 14% of the planet's population has suffered from an anxiety disorder, the causes that trigger it are not entirely clear (Posada, 2013). The classical approach of studies for the identification of the predisposing factors of these neuropsychiatric disorders has been oriented to personality theories such as the Eysenck Theory (Mitchell & Kumari, 2016) and the Bio-Psychological Theory of Personality (Knyazev, Pylkova, Slobodskoj-Plusnin, Bocharov, & Ushakov, 2015). However, from these studies, new proposals involving neuroanatomical and neurofunctional aspects have emerged. The electrical and chemical transmission of the information and how it is associated with different behaviors demonstrate the relief of the regulation of the production and reuptake of neurotransmitters in the central nervous system (CNS). This regulation is directly related to genetic expression, however, although certain candidate genes that contribute a percentage to this predisposition have been identified, these are not totally determinant (Montag, Reuter, Newport, Elger & Weber, 2008). Currently, given this gap, we have begun to investigate the influence of epigenetic factors that, together with genetic factors, would allow us to expand the explanation of the predisposing factors of certain neuropsychiatric disorders that were previously considered to be of environmental etiology.