Anxiety lights up the brain and scientists can now see it happening in real-time

We all know that uneasy feeling when every option feels wrong. It’s not fear exactly, but something heavier. Anxiety has always been hard to measure because it hides in thoughts and choices.

Now, scientists at the University of Portsmouth have found a way to watch it unfold inside the brain. Their research maps what happens when people face impossible decisions.

The study is the first to show the brain’s electrical response during “no-win” moments – those times when neither path feels safe. This work could eventually change how doctors identify and treat anxiety, replacing guesswork with real data.

How anxiety was tested in brain

Benjamin Stocker, a PhD student in psychology and neuroscience, built a video game to capture stress in action. Players moved a joystick to dodge threatening objects on screen.

Sometimes it was easy. Sometimes, no matter what they did, something bad happened. That tension – called “avoid-avoid conflict” – mimics real-life anxiety.

Forty volunteers between the ages of 18 and 24 took part in the trial. As they played, sensors on their heads tracked brain activity. The setup looked simple, but it was doing something new: catching anxiety in motion instead of after the fact.

Tracking brain reactions

The team used electroencephalography, or EEG, which records the brain’s electrical pulses.

During tough rounds, the right frontal area of the brain lit up with strong theta waves – tiny rhythms linked to decision-making and emotional control.

Theoretical work from the study explains why. Theta waves connect the brain’s thinking regions with its emotional centers. They’re like the bridge between logic and panic.

When choices feel impossible, that bridge becomes overloaded. The brain pushes harder to decide, even when both options look bad.

Seeing anxiety in brain

“Think of it like finally having a way to ‘see’ anxiety in the brain, rather than just relying on how someone describes feeling anxious,” said Stocker.

His interest in the subject started while working in general medical practice. “I spoke to a lot of patients and saw there was a real need to address this issue.”

Stocker had watched patients spend months waiting for proper treatment. “At the moment, there’s no procedure to quickly and properly diagnose someone with a mental health condition.”

“If you get a cold or catch the flu, you get prescribed medicine, but if you have a mental health condition, it could be a 6-9 month trial-and-error period before getting the right diagnosis and treatment.”

How the brain handles anxiety

Traditional anxiety studies often focus on balancing risk and reward. Stocker went in a different direction. He examined what happens when there is no reward at all. These “no-win” moments create genuine conflict in the brain.

The study’s theoretical model shows that two regions – the anterior cingulate cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – work hardest during these times. One tracks errors and emotional distress; the other tries to control it.

When they fall out of sync, anxiety rises. The brain knows it must act but feels paralyzed by uncertainty.

Ultimately, the experiment showed that people’s brains react in consistent, measurable ways when trapped in no-win choices.

The differences between low-stress and high-stress situations weren’t subtle – they were strong and clear. The effect sizes were large, meaning the brain’s response wasn’t random.

What the data showed

The EEG data suggests that the brain doesn’t just react to anxiety – it predicts it. The study connects this to predictive coding, a theory where the brain constantly guesses what will happen next.

When those guesses go wrong, stress builds. In anxious individuals, that loop happens more often.

By identifying this pattern, Stocker’s team adds a biological layer to what was once a psychological mystery. Anxiety becomes something visible, trackable, and perhaps one day, diagnosable.

Hope for faster diagnosis

“This research helps us understand the biological basis of anxiety. This could eventually lead to better ways to diagnose anxiety disorders, new treatments that target these specific brain patterns, and a deeper understanding of why some people struggle more with difficult decisions,” said Stocker.

“Ben’s research brings us a step closer to identifying a reliable, individual-level biomarker that could aid diagnosis of clinical anxiety and inform new non-drug based treatments,” said Dr. Roger Moore, who supervised the project with Dr. Tom Lockhart.

The team plans to expand the study to include people already diagnosed with anxiety and test how medication affects these brain waves.

Future of anxiety research

“One in four people experience anxiety,” said Stocker. “There are huge gaps in the literature that no-one has identified. Potentially one day you could give someone a small EEG device and be able to tell them if they have an anxiety condition.”

That vision could make diagnosis faster, cheaper, and far more accurate. By turning brain signals into medical information, the study gives shape to something that once seemed untouchable.

Anxiety may never disappear, but this research brings it into the light – where science can finally see it, understand it, and maybe one day, quiet it.

The study is published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology.

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