title: Altered functional connectivity of interoception in illness anxiety disorder.
abstract: Interoception collects all information coming from the body and is sustained by several brain areas such as insula and cingulate cortex. Here, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate functional connectivity (FC) of networks implied in interoception in patients with Illness anxiety disorders (IADs). We observed significantly reduced FC between the left extrastriate body area (EBA) and the paracentral lobule compared to healthy controls. Moreover, the correlation analysis between behavioural questionnaires and ROI to ROI FC showed that higher levels of illness anxiety were related to hyper-connectivity between EBA and amygdala and hippocampus. Scores on a questionnaire for interoceptive awareness were significantly correlated with higher FC between right hippocampus and nucleus accumbens bilaterally, and with higher connectivity between left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Last, patients showed increased interoceptive awareness, measured by Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ), and reduced capability in recognizing emotions, indicating inverse correlation between interoception and emotional awareness. Taken together our results suggested that, in absence of structural and micro-structural changes, patients with IADs show functional alteration in the neural network involved in the self-body representation; such functional alteration might be the target of possible treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grossi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Italy. Electronic address: mariachiara.longarzo@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Mariachiara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Longarzo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging, National Research Council, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quarantelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salvatore
authors.affiliation: IRCCS SDN, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cavaliere
authors.affiliation: Center for Psychosomatic Psychotherapy, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolofabrizio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trojano
authors.affiliation: IRCCS SDN, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aiello
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D065812:Interoception / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Emotion; Functional connectivity; Illness anxiety disorder; Interoception; rs-fMRI