Ottaviani Cristina, Watson David R, Meeten Frances, Makovac Elena, Garfinkel Sarah N, Critchley Hugo D
Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
Department of Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
Biol Psychol. 2016 Sep;119:31-41. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.06.009. Epub 2016 Jun 23.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by difficulties in inhibiting both perseverative thoughts (worry and rumination) and autonomic arousal. We investigated the neurobiological substrates of such abnormal inhibitory processes, hypothesizing aberrant functional coupling within 'default mode' (DMN) and autonomic brain networks. Functional imaging and heart rate variability (HRV) data were acquired from GAD patients and controls during performance of three tracking tasks interspersed with a perseverative cognition (PC) induction. After detection of infrequent target stimuli, activity within putative DMN hubs was suppressed, consistent with a redirection of attentional resources from internal to external focus. This magnitude of activity change was attenuated in patients and individuals with higher trait PC, but was predicted by individual differences in HRV. Following the induction of PC in controls, this pattern of neural reactivity became closer to that of GAD patients. Results support, at a neural level, the association between cognitive inflexibility and autonomic rigidity.
广泛性焦虑障碍（GAD）的特征在于难以抑制持续性思维（担忧和沉思）以及自主神经觉醒。我们研究了此类异常抑制过程的神经生物学基础，假设在“默认模式”（DMN）和自主神经脑网络内存在异常的功能耦合。在执行三项穿插有持续性认知（PC）诱导的追踪任务期间，从GAD患者和对照组获取了功能成像和心率变异性（HRV）数据。在检测到罕见的目标刺激后，假定的DMN枢纽内的活动受到抑制，这与注意力资源从内部焦点转向外部焦点一致。这种活动变化的幅度在患者和具有较高特质PC的个体中减弱，但可由HRV的个体差异预测。在对照组中诱导PC后，这种神经反应模式变得更接近GAD患者。结果在神经层面支持了认知灵活性与自主神经僵化之间的关联。
