Functional Alterations in Cerebellar Functional Connectivity in Anxiety Disorders

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Adolescents with anxiety disorders display heightened emotional and physical arousal, with known cerebral abnormalities.
• The role of cerebellar output circuitry, particularly the dentate nuclei (DN), in adolescent anxiety remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the involvement of functional territories (FTs) of the dentate nuclei in adolescent anxiety disorders.
• To explore differences in DN functional connectivity between adolescents with anxiety disorders and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in 41 adolescents with anxiety disorders and 55 healthy controls.
• Seed-to-voxel functional connectivity analyses were performed using parcellated DN functional territories.
• Connectivity metrics were correlated with State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores.

Main Results:

• Adolescents with anxiety disorders exhibited significant hyperconnectivity between the salience-motor DN FT and corresponding cerebral cortical regions compared to controls.
• In healthy controls, connectivity between the salience-motor FT and sensorimotor regions correlated with trait anxiety scores (R² = 0.41).

Conclusions:

• This study reveals differences in dentate nuclei functional connectivity in adolescents with anxiety disorders.
• These findings highlight the potential of the dentate nuclei as a clinical and sub-clinical marker for anxiety in adolescents.