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Mizzi S, Pedersen M, Rossell SL, Rendell P, Terrett G, Heinrichs M, Labuschagne I. Resting-state amygdala subregion and precuneus connectivity provide evidence for a dimensional approach to studying social anxiety disorder. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:147. [PMID: 38485930 PMCID: PMC10940725 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02844-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent and disabling mental health condition, characterized by excessive fear and anxiety in social situations. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigms have been increasingly used to understand the neurobiological underpinnings of SAD in the absence of threat-related stimuli. Previous studies have primarily focused on the role of the amygdala in SAD. However, the amygdala consists of functionally and structurally distinct subregions, and recent studies have highlighted the importance of investigating the role of these subregions independently. Using multiband fMRI, we analyzed resting-state data from 135 participants (42 SAD, 93 healthy controls). By employing voxel-wise permutation testing, we examined group differences of fMRI connectivity and associations between fMRI connectivity and social anxiety symptoms to further investigate the classification of SAD as a categorical or dimensional construct. Seed-to-whole brain functional connectivity analysis using multiple 'seeds' including the amygdala and its subregions and the precuneus, revealed no statistically significant group differences. However, social anxiety severity was significantly negatively correlated with functional connectivity of the precuneus - perigenual anterior cingulate cortex and positively correlated with functional connectivity of the amygdala (specifically the superficial subregion) - parietal/cerebellar areas. Our findings demonstrate clear links between symptomatology and brain connectivity in the absence of diagnostic differences, with evidence of amygdala subregion-specific alterations. The observed brain-symptom associations did not include disturbances in the brain's fear circuitry (i.e., disturbances in connectivity between amygdala - prefrontal regions) likely due to the absence of threat-related stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Mizzi
- School of Health and Biomedical Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
| | - Mangor Pedersen
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Susan L Rossell
- Centre for Mental Health, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia
- Psychiatry, St Vincent's Hospital, Fitzroy, Australia
| | - Peter Rendell
- Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioral and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Australia
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Gill Terrett
- Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioral and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Australia
| | - Markus Heinrichs
- Department of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University Medical Center, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Izelle Labuschagne
- Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioral and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Australia.
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
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Meng L, Zhang Y, Lin H, Mu J, Liao H, Wang R, Jiao S, Ma Z, Miao Z, Jiang W, Wang X. Abnormal hubs in global network as potential neuroimaging marker in generalized anxiety disorder at rest. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1075636. [PMID: 36591087 PMCID: PMC9801974 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1075636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Mounting studies have reported altered neuroimaging features in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, little is known about changes in degree centrality (DC) as an effective diagnostic method for GAD. Therefore, we aimed to explore the abnormality of DCs and whether these features can be used in the diagnosis of GAD. Methods Forty-one GAD patients and 45 healthy controls participated in the study. Imaging data were analyzed using DC and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methods. Results Compared with the control group, increased DC values in bilateral cerebellum and left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and decreased DC values in the left medial frontal orbital gyrus (MFOG), fusiform gyrus (FG), and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). The ROC results showed that the DC value of the left MTG could serve as a potential neuroimaging marker with high sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing patients from healthy controls. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate that abnormal DCs in the left MTG can be observed in GAD, highlighting the importance of GAD pathophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Meng
- Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, China,Department of Sleep, Wuhan Hospital for Psychotherapy, Wuhan, China
| | - Yuandong Zhang
- Clinical College, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Hang Lin
- Clinical College, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jingping Mu
- Department of Mental Health, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China
| | - Heng Liao
- Department of Mental Health, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China
| | - Runlan Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, China,Department of Sleep, Wuhan Hospital for Psychotherapy, Wuhan, China
| | - Shufen Jiao
- Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, China,Department of Sleep, Wuhan Hospital for Psychotherapy, Wuhan, China
| | - Zilong Ma
- Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, China,Department of Sleep, Wuhan Hospital for Psychotherapy, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhuangzhuang Miao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Wei Jiang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China,*Correspondence: Wei Jiang,
| | - Xi Wang
- Department of Mental Health, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China,Xi Wang,
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Kim H, Kim BH, Kim MK, Eom H, Kim JJ. Alteration of resting-state functional connectivity network properties in patients with social anxiety disorder after virtual reality-based self-training. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:959696. [PMID: 36203841 PMCID: PMC9530634 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.959696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a mental disorder characterized by excessive anxiety in social situations. This study aimed to examine the alteration of resting-state functional connectivity in SAD patients related to the virtual reality-based self-training (VRS) which enables exposure to social situations in a controlled environment. Fifty-two SAD patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group who received the VRS, or the control group who did not. Self-report questionnaires and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were performed to assess clinical symptoms and analyze the resting-state network properties, respectively. Significant decrease in social anxiety and an increase in self-esteem was found in the experimental group. From the resting-state fMRI analysis, alteration of local network properties in the left dorsolateral prefrontal gyrus (-10.0%, p = 0.025), left inferior frontal gyrus (-32.3%, p = 0.044), left insula (-17.2%, p = 0.046), left Heschl's gyrus (-21.2%, p = 0.011), bilateral inferior temporal gyrus (right: +122.6%, p = 0.045; left:-46.7%, p = 0.015), and right calcarine sulcus (+17.0%, p = 0.010) were found in the experimental group. Average shortest path length (+8.3%, p = 0.008) and network efficiency (-7.6%, p = 0.011) are found to be altered from the global network property analysis. In addition, the experimental group displayed more positive and more negative changes in the correlation trend of average shortest path length (p = 0.004) and global network efficiency (p = 0.014) with the severity of social anxiety, respectively. These results suggest potential effectiveness of the VRS, which is possibly related to the change of aberrant processing and control of visual and auditory linguistic stimuli and the adaptive change in rumination pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hun Kim
- Institute of Behavioral Sciences in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Byung-Hoon Kim
- Institute of Behavioral Sciences in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.,Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Min-Kyeong Kim
- Institute of Behavioral Sciences in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyojung Eom
- Institute of Behavioral Sciences in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jae-Jin Kim
- Institute of Behavioral Sciences in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.,Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
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