title: Cortical surface anatomy in pediatric patients with generalized anxiety disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is established that pediatric patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) exhibit functional abnormalities and altered gray matter volumes in neural structures that subserve emotional processing, yet there are no data regarding the surface anatomy of the cerebral cortex in youth with GAD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using an automated surface-based approach (FreeSurfer), cortical thickness was assessed node-by-node over the entire cerebral cortex in adolescents with GAD and no co-occurring major depressive disorder (n=13) and healthy subjects (n=19).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with healthy adolescents, youth with GAD exhibited increased cortical thickness in the right inferolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (i.e., inferior frontal gyrus), the left inferior and middle temporal cortex as well as the right lateral occipital cortex. No relationships were observed between cortical thickness and the severity of anxiety symptoms in the significant regions that were identified in the vertex-wise analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that, in adolescents with GAD, abnormalities in cortical thickness are present in an ensemble of regions responsible for fear learning, fear extinction, reflective functioning (e.g., mentalization), and regulation of the amygdala.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States. Electronic address: strawnjr@uc.edu.
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Strawn
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: John Wegman
authors.affiliation: Center for Imaging Research, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: Kelli C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Dominick
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: Max S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Swartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wehry
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: Luis R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Patino
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Strakowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
authors.forename: Caleb M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Adler
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Eliassen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: Melissa P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: DelBello
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Adolescence; Cortical thickness; FreeSurfer; Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)