Korean J Radiol.  2014 Aug;15(4):523-529. 10.3348/kjr.2014.15.4.523.

Altered Activity and Functional Connectivity of Superior Temporal Gyri in Anxiety Disorders: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

• Zhao X
• Xi Q
• Wang P
• Li C
• He H

• KMID: 1731057
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2014.15.4.523

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The prior functional MRI studies have demonstrated significantly abnormal activity in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG) of anxiety patients. The purpose of the current investigation was to determine whether the abnormal activity in these regions was related to a loss of functional connectivity between these regions.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ten healthy controls and 10 anxiety patients underwent noninvasive fMRI while actively listening to emotionally neutral words alternated by silence (Task 1) or threat-related words (Task 2). The participants were instructed to silently make a judgment of each word's valence (i.e., unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral). A coherence analysis was applied to the functional MRI data to examine the functional connectivity between the left and the right STG, which was selected as the primary region of interest on the basis of our prior results.
RESULTS
The data demonstrated that the anxiety patients exhibited significantly increased activation in the bilateral STG than the normal controls. The functional connectivity analysis indicated that the patient group showed significantly decreased degree of connectivity between the bilateral STG during processing Task 2 compared to Task 1 (t = 2.588, p = 0.029). In addition, a significantly decreased connectivity was also observed in the patient group compared to the control group during processing Task 2 (t = 2.810, p = 0.012).
CONCLUSION
Anxiety patients may exhibit increased activity of the STG but decreased functional connectivity between the left and right STG, which may reflect the underlying neural abnormality of anxiety disorder, and this will provide new insights into this disease.

Keyword

Anxiety disorders; fMRI; Functional connectivity

MeSH Terms

Adult
Anxiety Disorders/pathology/*physiopathology
Case-Control Studies
Emotions/physiology
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods
Male
Middle Aged
Temporal Lobe/pathology/*physiopathology

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Statistical t-maps reveal brain activity during processing of emotionally neutral words relative to no words (hot orange) and during processing of threatening words relative to neutral words (winter blue) in anxiety patients and normal controls. Anxiety patients exhibited significantly greater response in bilateral superior temporal gyrus than normal controls during processing of threatening words relative to neutral words.

• 

  Fig. 2 Differences in degree of connectivity, η, is shown between left and right STG, during two tasks in anxiety patients and normal controls. Anxiety patients exhibited significant decrease in degree of connectivity during processing of threatening words relative to neutral words and during processing of emotionally neutral words relative to no words, compared to normal controls. *p < 0.05. STG = superior temporal gyrus

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