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Cortical thickness alterations in social anxiety disorder
Andreas Frick1, Katarina Howner, Håkan Fischer
1Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. andreas.frick@psyk.uu.se
Neuroscience Letters
|January 19, 2013
Summary
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is linked to brain structure differences. Patients with SAD showed increased left inferior temporal cortex thickness, potentially explaining emotional regulation issues.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Brain Imaging
Background:
- Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by difficulties processing social-emotional information and regulating emotions.
- Functional neuroimaging studies support these emotional processing deficits in SAD.
- Research on structural brain abnormalities in SAD, particularly cortical thickness, remains limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate structural brain differences, specifically cortical thickness, in individuals with SAD compared to healthy controls.
- To explore the relationship between social anxiety symptom severity and cortical thickness in SAD patients.
Main Methods:
- Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess brain structure.
- Employed an automated method for precise measurement of cortical thickness.
- Compared cortical thickness in a group of 14 SAD patients and 12 healthy controls.
Main Results:
- Significantly increased cortical thickness in the left inferior temporal cortex was observed in SAD patients relative to controls.
- A negative correlation was found between social anxiety symptom severity and the thickness of the right rostral anterior cingulate cortex within the SAD group.
Conclusions:
- Structural brain alterations, including altered cortical thickness in specific regions, are associated with social anxiety disorder.
- These findings may elucidate the neural underpinnings of aberrant emotional processing and regulation observed in SAD.
- The study highlights the role of the inferior temporal cortex and rostral anterior cingulate cortex in the neurobiology of SAD.
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