Altered electroencephalography-based source functional connectivity in patients with generalized anxiety disorder.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a prevalent mental health condition characterized by excessive worry and anxiety.
• Understanding the neurophysiological underpinnings of GAD is crucial for developing effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
• Current diagnostic methods for GAD rely primarily on clinical interviews and symptom-based assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate neurophysiological markers of GAD using electroencephalography (EEG).
• To assess brain functional connectivity (FC) in GAD patients by analyzing lagged phase synchronization (LPS).
• To explore differences in FC between GAD patients and healthy controls and correlate these with clinical symptoms.

Main Methods:

• Cortical EEG sources were modeled using exact low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA).
• Graph theory analyses were applied to networks derived from LPS to compare FC between GAD patients and controls.
• The association between altered network parameters and GAD symptomatology was examined.

Main Results:

• GAD patients (n=104) exhibited higher brain connectivity in beta-2 (18.5-21 Hz) and beta-3 (21.5-30 Hz) frequency bands compared to controls (n=89).
• Specific regions, including the left cingulate gyrus and right postcentral gyrus, showed increased FC in GAD.
• GAD patients demonstrated higher global network efficiency in the beta-3 band, and longer illness duration correlated positively with increased beta-2 FC.

Conclusions:

• EEG-derived measures, particularly FC analysis, are valuable for understanding the neurophysiological alterations in GAD.
• EEG shows potential as a biomarker for differentiating GAD patients from controls.
• These findings suggest EEG could serve as a predictive tool in future GAD research and clinical applications.