title: The default mode network in late-life anxious depression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this exploratory study is to examine the default mode network (DMN) functional connectivity pattern in elderly depressed subjects with and without comorbid anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected for 11 elderly depressed subjects with high comorbid anxiety and eight elderly depressed subjects with low anxiety. We analyzed the resting-connectivity patterns of the posterior cingulate cortex. We compared the DMN activity in the elderly depressed subjects with high versus low comorbid anxiety.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Depressed elderly with high comorbid anxiety had increased functional connectivity in the posterior regions of the DMN and decreased functional connectivity in the anterior regions of the DMN.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elderly depressed subjects with high anxiety display a dissociative pattern of connectivity in the DMN when compared with elderly depressed subjects with low anxiety. These results suggest a unique biologic signature of the anxiety symptoms in the context of late-life depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Andreescu
authors.forename: Minjie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Meryl A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Butters
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Figurski
authors.forename: Charles F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: Howard J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Aizenstein
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*