The Bookshelf: June 9, 2015

Trib+Health is joining with respected books authority Kirkus Reviews to bring you select reviews of books of note in the field of health care. For more book reviews and recommendations, visit Kirkus.com.

ANXIOUS: Using the Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety

by Joseph LeDoux

This is no self-help book but rather a rigorous scientific analysis of brain function, heavy on research and theory. … The author stresses that fear is the end product of brain structures that generate no feelings by themselves but detect danger and orchestrate defensive responses that ensure the organism’s survival. Technical advances have given neuroscientists precise tools to investigate these structures, and psychologists have been active in the process as well. … sufferers will find no cheerful advice on banishing worry but plenty of sensible if discouraging qualifiers: “additional research will be necessary,” “not all studies have found this effect,” “this has a promising potential…”

For full review, visit kirkus.com