title: Hyperfunction of left lateral prefrontal cortex and automatic thoughts in social anxiety disorder: A near-infrared spectroscopy study.
abstract: Patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) experience unusual fear in normal social situations. The verbal fluency task (VFT) was administered while subjects were undergoing near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) scanning. The purpose of VFT was to examine the functions of the frontal and temporal lobes.
  
  
  
  Subjects included 145 drug-naïve patients with SAD and 152 healthy controls (HCs). All subjects underwent psychological testing to determine levels of anxiety and depression and to evaluate cognition.
  
  
  
  The scores of patients with SAD indicated significantly higher anxiety and depressive states than those in HCs on several measures: Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Profile of Mood States (POMS), Spielberger Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (SASS). The patients with SAD also had higher scores on the future denial, threat prediction, self-denial, past denial, and interpersonal threat sections of the Depression and Anxiety Cognition Scale (DACS). NIRS scanning revealed hyperactivity in the left frontal cortex of patients with SAD. Threat prediction scores on DACS were negatively correlated with oxy-Hb responses in the right frontal cortex.
  
  
  
  Further studies with a larger sample size are required to verify our findings.
  
  
  
  The results of this study demonstrate the different mechanisms of the right and left frontal cortex in situations of social anxiety disorder.
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Chiwa
authors: C
authors: Kawashima
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Yoshihiro
authors: Y
authors: Tanaka
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Ayako
authors: A
authors: Inoue
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Mari
authors: M
authors: Nakanishi
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Kana
authors: K
authors: Okamoto
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Yoshihiro
authors: Y
authors: Maruyama
authors: Department of Applied Linguistics, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Harumi
authors: H
authors: Oshita
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Yoshinobu
authors: Y
authors: Ishitobi
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Saeko
authors: S
authors: Aizawa
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Masuda
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Haruka
authors: H
authors: Higuma
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Masayuki
authors: M
authors: Kanehisa
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
authors: Taiga
authors: T
authors: Ninomiya
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Hasama-Machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan. Electronic address: akiyoshi@oita-u.ac.jp.
authors: Jotaro
authors: J
authors: Akiyoshi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012919:Social Behavior; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
keywords: Automatic thought; Near-infrared spectroscopy; Prefrontal cortex; Social anxiety disorder