title: Effect of trait anxiety on prefrontal control mechanisms during emotional conflict.
abstract: Converging evidence points to a link between anxiety proneness and altered emotional functioning, including threat-related biases in selective attention and higher susceptibility to emotionally ambiguous stimuli. However, during these complex emotional situations, it remains unclear how trait anxiety affects the engagement of the prefrontal emotional control system and particularly the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a core region at the intersection of the limbic and prefrontal systems. Using an emotional conflict task and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated in healthy subjects the relations between trait anxiety and both regional activity and functional connectivity (psychophysiological interaction) of the ACC. Higher levels of anxiety were associated with stronger task-related activation in ACC but with reduced functional connectivity between ACC and lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). These results support the hypothesis that when one is faced with emotionally incompatible information, anxiety leads to inefficient high-order control, characterized by insufficient ACC-LPFC functional coupling and increases, possibly compensatory, in activation of ACC. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology of the neural circuitry underlying anxiety and may offer potential treatment markers for anxiety disorders.
authors: Stress et Vulnérabilité, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289, Aix-Marseille Université & CNRS, Marseille, France.
authors: Magali
authors: M
authors: Comte
authors: Aïda
authors: A
authors: Cancel
authors: Jennifer T
authors: JT
authors: Coull
authors: Daniele
authors: D
authors: Schön
authors: Emmanuelle
authors: E
authors: Reynaud
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Boukezzi
authors: Pierre-François
authors: PF
authors: Rousseau
authors: Gabriel
authors: G
authors: Robert
authors: Stéphanie
authors: S
authors: Khalfa
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Guedj
authors: Olivier
authors: O
authors: Blin
authors: Daniel R
authors: DR
authors: Weinberger
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Fakra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: anterior cingulate cortex; emotional conflict; fMRI; lateral prefrontal cortex; psychophysiological interaction; trait anxiety