title: GABA content within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is related to trait anxiety.
abstract: The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays a key role in emotion processing and regulation. vmPFC dysfunction may lead to disinhibition of amygdala causing high anxiety levels. γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) inter-neurons within vmPFC shape the information flow to amygdala. Thus, we hypothesize that GABA content within vmPFC could be relevant to trait anxiety. Forty-three healthy volunteers aged between 20 and 88 years were assessed for trait anxiety with the Subscale-2 of the State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y2) and were studied with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to investigate GABA and Glx (glutamate+glutamine) contents within vmPFC. Total creatine (tCr) was used as internal reference. Partial correlations assessed the association between metabolite levels and STAI-Y2 scores, removing the effect of possible nuisance factors including age, educational level, volumes of gray matter and white matter within magnetic resonance spectroscopy voxel. We observed a positive relationship between GABA/tCr and STAI-Y2 scores. No significant relationships were found between Glx/tCr and STAI-Y2 and between tCr/water and STAI-Y2. No differences were found between males and females as regards to age, STAI-Y2, GABA/tCr, Glx/tCr, tCr/water, gray matter and white matter volumes. We suggest a close relationship between GABA content within vmPFC and trait anxiety providing new insights in the physiology of emotional brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy, Aging Research Centre, Ce.S.I., University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delli Pizzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Padulo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brancucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bubbico
authors.affiliation: Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology, "The Johns Hopkins University" School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, F.M. Kirby Center for Functional MRI, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Edden
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferretti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy, Aging Research Centre, Ce.S.I., University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franciotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Manippa
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marzoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Aging Research Centre, Ce.S.I., University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onofrj
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neurosciences and Sense Organs, University "A. Moro" of Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sepede
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tartaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Health, and the Territory, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tommasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University "La Sapienza" of Roma, Italy, and Foundation Santa Lucia, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puglisi-Allegra
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Aging Research Centre, Ce.S.I., University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, l.bonanni@unich.it.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonanni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D005973:Glutamine / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
keywords: anxiety; glutamate; ventromedial prefrontal cortex; γ-aminobutyric acid