title: Cerebral correlates of heart rate variations during a spontaneous panic attack in the fMRI scanner.
abstract: We report the first published case study of a suddenly occurring panic attack in a patient with no prior history of panic disorder during combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI, 1.5 Tesla) and electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. The single case was a 46-year-old woman who developed a panic attack near the planned end of the fMRI acquisition session, which therefore had to be aborted. Correlational analysis of heart rate fluctuations and fMRI data revealed a significant negative association in the left middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, regions-of-interest (ROI) analyses indicated significant positive associations in the left amygdala, and trends towards significance in the right amygdala and left insula.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Hauptstrasse 5, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. Kai.Spiegelhalder@uniklinik-freiburg.de
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Spiegelhalder
authors: Magdolna
authors: M
authors: Hornyak
authors: Simon David
authors: SD
authors: Kyle
authors: Dominik
authors: D
authors: Paul
authors: Jens
authors: J
authors: Blechert
authors: Erich
authors: E
authors: Seifritz
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Hennig
authors: Ludger
authors: L
authors: Tebartz van Elst
authors: Dieter
authors: D
authors: Riemann
authors: Bernd
authors: B
authors: Feige
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology