Oishi Misuzu, Sakurai Noriko, Kawasaki Yuki, Sasaki Kei, Kasai Satoshi, Kodama Naoki
Graduate School of Health and Welfare, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.
Department of Radiological Technology, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.
Front Behav Neurosci. 2024 Dec 10;18:1498612. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1498612. eCollection 2024.
Anxiety is an emotion necessary for human survival. However, persistent and excessive anxiety can be clinically challenging. Increased anxiety affects daily life and requires early detection and intervention. Therefore, a better understanding of the neural basis of mild anxiety is needed. However, previous studies have focused primarily on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in patients with psychiatric disorders presenting with anxiety. Notably, only a few studies have been conducted on healthy participants, and the relationship between anxiety and functional brain connectivity in the healthy range remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to clarify the differences in functional brain connectivity at different degrees of anxiety among healthy participants.
This study included 48 healthy participants with no history of psychiatric disorders. Participants were administered The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) 60, a psychological test for assessing anxiety, and the Manifest Anxiety Scale (MAS). The participants then underwent rs-fMRI. Based on the results of each psychological test, the participants were classified into normal and anxiety groups, and the functional connectivity between the two groups was compared using a seed-to-voxel analysis.
Comparison of functional brain connectivity between the normal and anxiety groups classified based on the GHQ60 and MAS revealed differences between brain regions comprising the salience network (SN) in both psychological tests. For the GHQ60, the anxiety group showed reduced connectivity between the right supramarginal gyrus and insular cortex compared with the normal group. However, for the MAS, the anxiety group showed reduced connectivity between the right supramarginal and anterior cingulate cortical gyri compared with the normal group.
Functional connectivity within the SN was reduced in the group with higher anxiety when functional brain connectivity at different anxiety levels was examined in healthy participants. This suggests that anxiety is involved in changes in the functional brain connectivity associated with emotional processing and cognitive control.
焦虑是人类生存所必需的一种情绪。然而，持续且过度的焦虑在临床上可能具有挑战性。焦虑加剧会影响日常生活，需要早期检测和干预。因此，有必要更好地了解轻度焦虑的神经基础。然而，先前的研究主要集中在患有焦虑症的精神疾病患者的静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）上。值得注意的是，针对健康参与者的研究较少，健康范围内焦虑与大脑功能连接之间的关系仍不明确。因此，在本研究中，我们旨在阐明健康参与者在不同焦虑程度下大脑功能连接的差异。
本研究纳入了48名无精神疾病史的健康参与者。参与者接受了用于评估焦虑的心理测试《一般健康问卷》（GHQ）60以及《显性焦虑量表》（MAS）。然后参与者接受rs-fMRI检查。根据每项心理测试的结果，将参与者分为正常组和焦虑组，并使用种子点体素分析比较两组之间的功能连接。
根据GHQ60和MAS分类的正常组和焦虑组之间大脑功能连接的比较显示，在两项心理测试中，构成突显网络（SN）的脑区之间存在差异。对于GHQ60，与正常组相比，焦虑组右侧缘上回与岛叶皮质之间的连接减少。然而，对于MAS，与正常组相比，焦虑组右侧缘上回与前扣带回皮质之间的连接减少。
在健康参与者中检查不同焦虑水平下的大脑功能连接时，焦虑程度较高的组中SN内的功能连接减少。这表明焦虑与情绪处理和认知控制相关的大脑功能连接变化有关。
