Gray Matter Structural Alterations in Social Anxiety Disorder: A Voxel-Based Meta-Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Social anxiety disorder (SAD) pathogenesis remains incompletely understood.
• Neurobiological underpinnings of SAD require further elucidation.
• Gray matter volume (GMV) differences may offer insights into SAD neuroanatomy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neuroanatomical basis of social anxiety disorder (SAD).
• To compare gray matter volume (GMV) differences between SAD patients and healthy controls (HC).
• To explore potential confounding factors in SAD neuroimaging studies.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search for voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies.
• Anisotropic effect size version of seed-based d mapping (AES-SDM) meta-analysis.
• Inclusion of eleven studies with 470 SAD patients and 522 HC.

Main Results:

• SAD patients exhibited larger GMVs in the left precuneus, right middle occipital gyrus (MOG), and supplementary motor area (SMA), and smaller GMV in the left putamen compared to HC.
• Subgroup analyses revealed variations based on age, comorbid depression, and medication status.
• Consistent findings included larger cortical GMVs and smaller subcortical GMVs, particularly in the left precuneus and thalamus.

Conclusions:

• Neuroanatomical differences in gray matter volume are associated with social anxiety disorder (SAD).
• Age, comorbid depression, and medication use may influence observed neuroanatomical findings in SAD.
• This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the neuroanatomical basis of SAD.