Panic disorder is a psychiatric illness in which etiology and underlyi
ng neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. In this article, avalaib
le data which support the existence of an organic pathology responsibl
e for this disorder are reviewed, including the especifity of certain
pharmacological therapies, the possible genetical basis, neuroanatomy
and neuroimage data and chemical models of panic induction. Abnormalit
ies in Locus Coeruleus (LC) and noradrenergic neurotransmission are co
nsistent candidates to explain panic attacks, although another dysfunc
tions (in amygdala, hippocampus, GABA, CCK, 5-HT) can also play an imp
ortant role. We conclude that is neccesary the development of models-f
unctional neural netscapables of integrating the data obtained until t
his moment in a coherent manner. In addition, a recent model (Charney)
, which fulfill the features mentioned above and can serve as hypothes
is for future research, is presented.