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Impaired spatial navigation in pediatric anxiety.

Sven C Mueller1, Veronica Temple, Brian Cornwell

  • 1MAP, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. msven@mail.nih.gov

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|July 15, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Children with anxiety disorders show impaired spatial orientation, suggesting a link between hippocampal function and pediatric anxiety. This study highlights navigation difficulties in anxious youth.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychiatry

Background:

  • Hippocampal dysfunction is theorized to play a role in anxiety disorders.
  • Animal studies, primarily lesion research, form the basis of current theories.
  • Inter-species differences limit the direct translation of rodent findings to human function.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate spatial orientation abilities in children with anxiety disorders.
  • To explore the potential involvement of the hippocampal network in pediatric anxiety.
  • To examine the generalization of spatial navigation deficits to human anxiety.

Main Methods:

  • Comparison of 34 treatment-naive children with anxiety disorders to 35 healthy controls.
  • Utilized a virtual, computer-based Morris Water Maze task to assess spatial orientation.

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  • Participants were age- and IQ-matched.

    • Main Results:

    • Children with anxiety disorders demonstrated significantly impaired performance on the spatial orientation task.
    • Anxious children made more heading direction errors compared to healthy controls.
    • Accuracy in completing spatial navigation trials was worse in the anxiety group.

    Conclusions:

    • This study provides novel evidence linking spatial orientation deficits to pediatric anxiety.
    • Findings suggest the hippocampal network involved in spatial orientation is implicated in anxiety disorders.
    • Deficits in spatial navigation may be a characteristic of anxiety in children.