Title:
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Altered brain functional connectivity in relation to perception of scrutiny in social anxiety disorder
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Author:
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Gimenez, Monica; Pujol Nuez, Jesus; Ortiz Valencia, Héctor; Soriano-Mas, Carles; López Solà, Marina; Farré, Magí; Deus Yela, Joan; Merlo-Pich, Emilio; Martín-Santos, Rocío
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Other authors:
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Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Projectes d'Enginyeria; Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. GIIP - Grup de Recerca en Enginyeria de Projectes: Disseny, Sostenibilitat i Comunicació |
Abstract:
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Although the fear of being scrutinized by others in a social context is a key symptom in social anxiety disorder
(SAD), the neural processes underlying the perception of scrutiny have not previously been studied by func-
tional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We used fMRI to map brain activation during a perception-of-
scrutiny task in 20 SAD patients and 20 controls. A multi-dimensional analytic approach was used. Scrutiny
perception was mediated by activation of the medial frontal cortex, insula
–
operculum region and cerebellum,
and the additional recruitment of visual areas and the thalamus in patients. Between-group comparison
demonstrated signi
fi
cantly enhanced brain activation in patients in the primary visual cortex and cerebellum.
Functional connectivity mapping demonstrated an abnormal connectivity between regions underlying
general arousal and attention. SAD patients showed signi
fi
cantly greater task-induced functional connectivity
in the thalamo-cortical and the fronto-striatal circuits. A statistically signi
ficant increase in task-induced
functional connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and scrutiny-perception-related regions was
observed in the SAD patients, suggesting the existence of enhanced behavior-inhibitory control. The
presented data indicate that scrutiny perception in SAD enhances brain activity in arousal–attention systems,suggesting that fMRI may be a useful tool to explore such a behavioral dimension. |
Subject(s):
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-Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Ciències de la salut::Salut mental -Social phobia -Anxiety -Magnetic resonance -Neuropsychology -Fobia social -Ansietat -Ressonància magnètica -Neuropsicologia |
Rights:
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ |
Document type:
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Article - Published version Article |
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