Niedrige Cholinspiegel im Gehirn gehen mit Angststörungen einher. Der Cholinspiegel – ein essentieller Nährstoff – war bei Patienten mit Angststörungen um etwa 8 % niedriger. Die Hinweise auf einen niedrigen Cholinspiegel waren besonders konsistent im präfrontalen Kortex, dem Teil des Gehirns, der bei der Kontrolle des Denkens hilft
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-025-03206-7
9 Kommentare
Abstract
Background
Anxiety disorders (AnxDs) are highly prevalent and often untreated or unresponsive to treatment. Although proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) studies of AnxDs have been conducted for over 25 years, a consensus regarding neurometabolic abnormalities in these conditions is lacking.
Methods
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 1H-MRS studies of AnxDs (social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder) identified 25 published datasets meeting inclusion criteria. These compared neurometabolites between 370 patients and 342 controls, including n-acetlyaspartate (NAA), total creatine, total choline (tCho), myo-inositol, glutamate, glutamate+glutamine, GABA, and lactate.
Results
Across AnxDs, tCho was significantly reduced in prefrontal cortex and across all cortical regions. Effect sizes for cortical tCho were significantly more negative in studies with better measurement quality, with Hedges’ g = −0.64 and an 8% mean reduction. NAA was unchanged in prefrontal cortex but reduced across all cortical regions (after exclusions). These abnormalities did not differ between the three disorders. No other neurometabolites differed significantly.
Discussion
Reduced choline-containing compounds in cortical regions is a consistent, transdiagnostic abnormality in AnxDs. Notably, arousal-related neuromodulators, including norepinephrine, alter membrane phospholipid homeostasis and methylation reactions, which influence brain tCho levels. This suggests that chronically elevated arousal in AnxDs may increase neurometabolic demand for choline compounds without a proportionate increase in brain uptake, leading to reduced tCho levels. Reduced cortical NAA suggests compromised neuronal function in AnxDs. Future studies may clarify the clinical significance of reduced cortical tCho and the possibility that appropriate choline supplementation could have therapeutic benefit in anxiety disorders.
Soooo anxious people should eat more eggs?
Yet there are numerous reports and some studies showing that choline supplements can cause Anxiety / depression. Can anyone suggest how this might add up, is there a Goldilocks zone regarding Choline levels.
Does Omega-3 contain and/or boost Choline?
Magnesium is also associated with reduced anxiety. Most Americans don’t get enough from diet and many Americans have mutations from founder populations that reduce their kidneys ability to hold on to magnesium by 25% or more.
Just looked into it some more, and it also seems choline helps absorb magnesium.
This meta-analysis on choline levels in anxiety disorders is interesting, but there are several points that might complicate the interpretation. The study found reduced total choline in the prefrontal cortex across anxiety groups, but choline is central not only to anxiety regulation but also to attention, executive control, and general arousal balance. These same systems are disrupted in ADHD, which often gets misdiagnosed as anxiety, especially in adults who experience restlessness or difficulty calming down. It is possible that many participants in the anxiety cohorts, particularly women, actually had undiagnosed ADHD, which could affect the metabolite results.
Another confounding factor is nicotine use. Nicotine acts directly on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and changes how brain choline is metabolized. Since nicotine use is common among people with untreated ADHD and those with anxiety symptoms, failing to account for smoking status might skew cortical choline measurements in unpredictable ways.
Finally, anxiety symptoms are not always the product of an overactive fear response. Sometimes they reflect an inability to self-soothe from
overstimulation. This capacity for self-regulation is tied to oxytocin, which supports bonding and emotional stability through social connection and physical contact. Like infants who calm through skin-to-skin touch, adults also rely on oxytocin-related co-regulation with others.
In summary, the reduced cortical choline levels described in the study might not point only to anxiety but to more general arousal-regulation issues that overlap with ADHD, nicotine use, and oxytocin-mediated emotional regulation. Future research should try to separate these overlapping factors to understand what the choline findings truly represent.
Where can I get me some Choline without having to eat someone’s brain?
No surprise considering acetylcholine is the „calming“ neurochemical
Honestly? I think the chlorine may be a red herring.
I’m wondering if communities with higher costs of living commonly have more chlorine added to their drinking water, and it’s just people from a higher socio-economic class and therefore less anxiety?
Did the study speak to backgrounds of the sample?