Li Qianqian, Zhang Ting, Meng Jie, Wang Lu, Hua Qiang, Xie Xiao-Hui, Ji Gong-Jun, Bai Tong-Jian, Wang Kai
Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China; Department of Psychology and Sleep Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Hefei, Anhui Province, China; Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei, China.
Behav Brain Res. 2023 Oct 18;455:114660. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114660. Epub 2023 Sep 9.
Abnormal hemispheric specialization and inter-hemispheric interactions may contribute to the pathogenesis of general anxiety disorder (GAD). The current study investigated these abnormalities in GAD patients based on the two analytic approaches and examined whether such abnormalities are correlated with anxiety symptom severity. Seventy-three patients with GAD and 60 matched healthy controls were recruited. All participants completed anxiety symptoms assessment and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). The autonomy index (AI) and Connectivity between Functionally Homotopic voxels (CFH) were applied to measure and compared between groups. Compared to controls, patients showed stronger AI in the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG). Seed-based analysis revealed stronger functional connectivity (FC) of the right MTG with both right precuneus and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) in patients. Patients also exhibited greater CFH in right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) but decreased CFH in bilateral postcentral gyrus (PCG) and superior occipital gyrus (SOG). Further there were significant correlations between these regional CFH and anxiety symptoms severity. GAD patients demonstrate right hemispheric specialization and aberrant inter-hemispheric functional cooperation, and abnormal inter-hemispheric coordination is associated with anxiety symptom severity. These findings provide a clue to understanding the neuropathological mechanisms of GAD.
半球功能特化异常和半球间相互作用可能与广泛性焦虑症（GAD）的发病机制有关。本研究基于两种分析方法对GAD患者的这些异常情况进行了调查，并检验了这些异常是否与焦虑症状严重程度相关。招募了73名GAD患者和60名匹配的健康对照者。所有参与者均完成了焦虑症状评估和静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）。应用自主性指数（AI）和功能同位体素之间的连接性（CFH）进行组间测量和比较。与对照组相比，患者右侧颞中回（MTG）的AI更强。基于种子点的分析显示，患者右侧MTG与右侧楔前叶和右侧背外侧前额叶皮质（dlPFC）之间的功能连接（FC）更强。患者右侧前扣带回皮质（ACC）的CFH也更大，但双侧中央后回（PCG）和枕上回（SOG）的CFH降低。此外，这些区域的CFH与焦虑症状严重程度之间存在显著相关性。GAD患者表现出右侧半球功能特化和异常的半球间功能协作，且异常的半球间协调与焦虑症状严重程度相关。这些发现为理解GAD的神经病理机制提供了线索。
