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Amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex function during anticipated peer evaluation in pediatric social anxiety
Amanda E Guyer1, Jennifer Y F Lau, Erin B McClure-Tone
1Mood and Anxiety Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 15K North Dr, Room 208, Bethesda, MD 20892-2670, USA. amandaguyer@mail.nih.gov
Archives of General Psychiatry
|November 5, 2008
Summary
Adolescents with social anxiety show heightened amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) responses when anticipating evaluation from disliked peers. This indicates brain circuitry dysfunction in social anxiety disorder during social evaluation contexts.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Adolescents with anxiety disorders exhibit amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) dysfunction when viewing negative stimuli in threatening contexts.
- This fear circuitry dysfunction may extend to social anxiety, where adolescents misperceive peers as threatening during social evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differential engagement of the amygdala and vlPFC in adolescents with and without social anxiety.
- To examine responses to photographs of negatively evaluated peers during anticipated social evaluation.
Main Methods:
- A case-control study involving 14 adolescents with social anxiety and 14 matched healthy controls.
- Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measured blood oxygenation level-dependent signal.
- Participants completed peer- and self-appraisals before and during neuroimaging scans.
Main Results:
- Anxious adolescents displayed greater amygdala activation when anticipating evaluation from peers they previously rated as undesirable for interaction.
- Functional MRI revealed a significant positive association between amygdala and vlPFC activation in anxious compared to healthy adolescents.
- These neural differences were observed in response to negatively perceived peers during anticipated social evaluation.
Conclusions:
- Anticipating social evaluation from negatively perceived peers differentially modulates amygdala and vlPFC engagement in anxious versus healthy adolescents.
- Brain circuitry dysfunction in adolescent anxiety disorders is context-specific, manifesting during anticipated peer evaluation.
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