Lack of gender effects on gray matter volumes in adolescent generalized anxiety disorder

Previous epidemiological and clinical studies have reported gender differences in prevalence and clinical features of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Such gender differences in clinical phenomenology suggest that the underlying neural circuitry of GAD could also be different in males and females. This study aimed to explore the possible gender effect on gray matter volumes in adolescents with GAD.

Twenty-six adolescent GAD patients and 25 healthy controls participated and underwent high-resolution structural magnetic resonance scans. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to investigate gray matter alterations.

Our study revealed a significant diagnosis main effect in the right putamen, with larger gray matter volumes in GAD patients compared to healthy controls, and a significant gender main effect in the left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, with larger gray matter volumes in males compared to females. No gender-by-diagnosis interaction effect was found in this study.

The relatively small sample size in this study might result in a lack of power to demonstrate gender effects on brain structure in GAD.

The results suggested that there are differences in gray matter volumes between males and females, but gray matter volumes in GAD are not influenced by gender.