Insula reactivity and connectivity to anterior cingulate cortex when processing threat in generalized social anxiety disorder.
Aberrant subcortical-prefrontal connectivity may contribute to insula hyper-reactivity to threat in generalized social anxiety disorder (gSAD). A novel PsychoPhysiological Interaction (PPI) analysis was used to examine functional 'coupling' between the insula and prefrontal cortex in gSAD patients and healthy controls (HCs). During fMRI, 29 gSAD and 26 HC volunteers performed an Emotional Face Matching Task, involving the processing of fear, angry, and happy expressions. As expected, compared with HCs, gSAD patients exhibited greater bilateral anterior insula (aINS) reactivity for fear vs. happy faces; this group difference was less robust for angry vs. happy faces. PPI of insula connectivity when processing fearful faces revealed the gSAD group had less right aINS-dorsal anterior cingulate coupling compared to HCs. Findings indicate that aINS hyper-reactivity for fear faces in gSAD, compared to controls, involves reduced connectivity with a prefrontal region implicated in cognitive control and emotion regulation.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Rachel Upjohn Building, 4250 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2700, USA. heidek@umich.edu
Heide
H
Klumpp
Mike
M
Angstadt
K Luan
KL
Phan
D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation
D010100:Oxygen