Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, Connecticut Mental Health Center, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA.
University College London, London, UK.
Biol Sex Differ. 2024 Feb 13;15(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s13293-024-00591-6.
Men and women are known to show differences in the incidence and clinical manifestations of mood and anxiety disorders. Many imaging studies have investigated the neural correlates of sex differences in emotion processing. However, it remains unclear how anxiety might impact emotion processing differently in men and women.
We recruited 119 healthy adults and assessed their levels of anxiety using State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) State score. With functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined regional responses to negative vs. neutral (Neg-Neu) picture matching in the Hariri task. Behavioral data were analyzed using regression and repeated-measures analysis of covariance with age as a covariate, and fMRI data were analyzed using a full-factorial model with sex as a factor and age as a covariate.
Men and women did not differ in STAI score, or accuracy rate or reaction time (RT) (Neg-Neu). However, STAI scores correlated positively with RT (Neg-Neu) in women but not in men. Additionally, in women, STAI score correlated positively with lingual gyrus (LG) and negatively with medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and superior frontal gyrus (SFG) activity during Neg vs. Neu trials. The parameter estimates (βs) of mPFC also correlated with RT (Neg-Neu) in women but not in men. Generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analysis in women revealed mPFC connectivity with the right inferior frontal gyrus, right SFG, and left parahippocampal gyrus during Neg vs. Neu trials in positive correlation with both STAI score and RT (Neg-Neu). In a mediation analysis, mPFC gPPI but not mPFC activity fully mediated the association between STAI scores and RT (Neg-Neu).
With anxiety affecting the behavioral and neural responses to negative emotions in women but not in men and considering the known roles of the mPFC in emotion regulation, we discussed heightened sensitivity and regulatory demands during negative emotion processing as neurobehavioral markers of anxiety in women.
男性和女性在情绪和焦虑障碍的发病率和临床表现上存在差异。许多影像学研究已经调查了情绪处理中性别差异的神经相关性。然而，目前尚不清楚焦虑如何以不同的方式影响男性和女性的情绪处理。
我们招募了 119 名健康成年人，并使用状态-特质焦虑量表（STAI）状态评分评估他们的焦虑水平。使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI），我们在 Hariri 任务中检查了对负面与中性（Neg-Neu）图片匹配的区域反应。使用回归和重复测量协方差分析，以年龄为协变量，对行为数据进行分析，以 fMRI 数据为全因子模型，以性别为因素，年龄为协变量进行分析。
男性和女性在 STAI 评分、准确性或反应时间（Neg-Neu）上没有差异。然而，STAI 评分与女性的反应时间（Neg-Neu）呈正相关，而与男性无关。此外，在女性中，STAI 评分与 Neg 与 Neu 试验期间舌回（LG）呈正相关，与内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）和额上回（SFG）呈负相关。女性 mPFC 的参数估计（β）也与反应时间（Neg-Neu）呈正相关，但男性则无。女性的广义心理生理交互作用（gPPI）分析显示，mPFC 与右侧额下回、右侧 SFG 和左侧海马旁回在 Neg 与 Neu 试验期间的连接与 STAI 评分和反应时间（Neg-Neu）呈正相关。在中介分析中，mPFC gPPI 而不是 mPFC 活动完全介导了 STAI 评分与反应时间（Neg-Neu）之间的关联。
焦虑影响女性对负面情绪的行为和神经反应，而男性则不受影响，考虑到 mPFC 在情绪调节中的已知作用，我们讨论了女性在处理负面情绪时的敏感性和调节需求增加，作为焦虑的神经行为标志物。
