Lactate infusion in anxiety research: Its evolution and practice

The unpredictability of spontaneous unexpected panic attacks has inhibited the controlled study of this phenomenon. Previous studies demonstrated that an increase in blood lactic acid occurred concomitant with symptoms of anxiety in anxiety-prone patients who underwent standard physical exercise. The question of whether these patients had an excessive sensitivity to lactate led to the development of the lactate infusion model, in which anxiety is induced in a controlled environment. The history and current application of the lactate infusion model in the study of neurochemical correlates of panic are described, and a methodology for lactate infusion procedures is outlined.