title: Aberrant regional neural fluctuations and functional connectivity in generalized anxiety disorder revealed by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the neural activity and functional connectivity in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) during resting state, and how these alterations correlate to patients' symptoms. Twenty-eight GAD patients and 28 matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) scans. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) were computed to explore regional activity and functional integration, and were compared between the two groups using the voxel-based two-sample t test. Pearson's correlation analyses were performed to examine the neural relationships with demographics and clinical symptoms scores. Compared to controls, GAD patients showed functional abnormalities: higher ALFF in the bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex; lower connectivity in prefrontal gyrus; lower in prefrontal-limbic and cingulate RSFC and higher prefrontal-hippocampus RSFC were correlated with clinical symptoms severity, but these associations were unable to withstand correction for multiple testing. These findings may help facilitate further understanding of the potential neural substrate of GAD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinan Military General Hospital, Shandong 250000, China; 71702 Hospital, Luoyang 471000, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
authors.forename: Jingming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinan Military General Hospital, Shandong 250000, China.
authors.forename: Shaowen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinan Military General Hospital, Shandong 250000, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinan Military General Hospital, Shandong 250000, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinan Military General Hospital, Shandong 250000, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinan Military General Hospital, Shandong 250000, China.
authors.forename: Zhaohui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Jinan Military General Hospital, Shandong 250000, China.
authors.forename: Kuolin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Jinan Military General Hospital, Shandong 250000, China. Electronic address: cjr.sungang@vip.163.com.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Amplitude of low frequency fluctuations; Functional connectivity; Generalized anxiety disorder; Limbic structures; Prefrontal cortex