Resting-state functional connectivity in anxiety disorders: a multicenter fMRI study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Systems Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Anxiety disorders (AD) are linked to altered brain network connectivity, but cross-disorder comparisons are limited.
• Understanding shared and distinct neural signatures across AD phenotypes is crucial for personalized treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cross-disorder differences in functional connectivity (FC) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI).
• To compare FC patterns in patients with panic disorder/agoraphobia (PD/AG), social anxiety disorder (SAD), and specific phobia (SP) against healthy controls (HC).

Main Methods:

• rsfMRI data from 439 AD patients (PD/AG, SAD, SP) and 105 HC were analyzed.
• Region-of-interest (ROI)-to-ROI analyses focused on connectivity within the defensive and prefrontal regulatory systems.
• Categorical and dimensional analyses were performed to identify FC differences.

Main Results:

• AD patients showed increased insula-thalamus connectivity compared to HC.
• PD/AG patients exhibited widespread subcortical-cortical connectivity changes, including increased insula-thalamus and decreased prefrontal-cingulate connectivity.
• SAD patients displayed decreased negative connectivity between insula and orbitofrontal cortex, while SP patients showed no significant FC differences.

Conclusions:

• Distinct functional connectivity profiles exist across different anxiety disorder phenotypes.
• Findings suggest categorical differences in brain network alterations, particularly in PD/AG and SAD.
• These results support the development of personalized, neuroscience-informed treatments for anxiety disorders.