Altered resting-state network connectivity in panic disorder: an independent ComponentAnalysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Panic disorder (PD) is a common anxiety disorder with unclear neurobiological underpinnings.
• Previous research on PD neurobiology often used limited seed regions, potentially biasing findings.
• Understanding resting-state functional connectivity (FC) in PD is crucial for elucidating its pathophysiology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whole-brain intra- and internetwork FC changes in PD patients using resting-state fMRI.
• To identify specific neural networks affected in PD without a priori seed region restrictions.
• To correlate FC alterations with PD symptom severity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized voxel-wise, data-driven independent component analysis (ICA) on resting-state fMRI data.
• Compared FC between 26 PD patients and 27 healthy controls (HCs).
• Employed statistical parametric mapping (SPM) for group comparisons of intra- and internetwork FC.

Main Results:

• PD patients exhibited decreased intra-network FC in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), sensorimotor cortex, and cerebellum.
• Reduced FC in the right ACC was significantly correlated with greater PD symptom severity.
• No significant differences in functional network connectivity (internetwork FC) were observed between PD patients and HCs.

Conclusions:

• Altered intra-network FC in emotion regulation, interoceptive awareness, and sensory processing networks is implicated in PD pathophysiology.
• The findings highlight the role of specific brain network dysfunctions rather than broad network interactions in PD.
• This study provides a more comprehensive, whole-brain view of FC abnormalities in panic disorder.