title: Social anxiety disorder exhibit impaired networks involved in self and theory of mind processing.
abstract: Most previous studies regarding social anxiety disorder (SAD) have focused on the role of emotional dysfunction, while impairments in self- and theory of mind (ToM)-processing have relatively been neglected. This study utilised functional connectivity density (FCD), resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and discriminant analyses to investigate impairments in self- and ToM-related networks in patients with SAD. Patients with SAD exhibited decreased long-range FCD in the right rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and decreased short-range FCD in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG)-key nodes involved in self- and ToM-processing, respectively. Decreased RSFC of the right rACC and STG with widespread frontal, temporal, posteromedial, sensorimotor, and somatosensory, regions was also observed in patients with SAD. Altered RSFC between the right rACC and bilateral superior frontal gyrus, between the right rACC and right middle frontal gyrus, and within the right STG itself provided the greatest contribution to individual diagnoses of SAD, with an accuracy of 84.5%. These results suggest that a lack of cognitive inhibition on emotional self-referential processing as well as impairments in social information integration may play critical roles in the pathomechanism of SAD and highlight the importance of recognising such features in the diagnosis and treatment of SAD.
authors.affiliation: School of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.|Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Vanman
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
authors.forename: Zhiliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
authors.forename: Yajing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
authors.forename: Yuyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
authors.forename: Yifeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
authors.forename: Xujun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, West China School of Medicine, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Qiyong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, Center for Information in BioMedicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
authors.forename: Huafu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012649:Self Concept; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: discriminant analysis; functional connectivity density; self-processing; social anxiety disorder; theory-of-mind