scholarly journals Ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity and pathological worry in generalised anxiety disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 213 (1) ◽  
pp. 437-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Via ◽  
M. A. Fullana ◽  
X. Goldberg ◽  
D. Tinoco-González ◽  
I. Martínez-Zalacaín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Qualitative Difference ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Generalised Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Pathological Worry ◽  
Learned Safety ◽  
Hallmark Feature

BackgroundPathological worry is a hallmark feature of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), associated with dysfunctional emotional processing. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is involved in the regulation of such processes, but the link between vmPFC emotional responses and pathological v. adaptive worry has not yet been examined.AimsTo study the association between worry and vmPFC activity evoked by the processing of learned safety and threat signals.MethodIn total, 27 unmedicated patients with GAD and 56 healthy controls (HC) underwent a differential fear conditioning paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsCompared to HC, the GAD group demonstrated reduced vmPFC activation to safety signals and no safety–threat processing differentiation. This response was positively correlated with worry severity in GAD, whereas the same variables showed a negative and weak correlation in HC.ConclusionsPoor vmPFC safety–threat differentiation might characterise GAD, and its distinctive association with GAD worries suggests a neural-based qualitative difference between healthy and pathological worries.Declaration of interestNone.

scholarly journals Repeated noninvasive stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex reveals cumulative amplification of pleasant compared to unpleasant scene processing: a single subject pilot study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantin Winker ◽  
Maimu A. Rehbein ◽  
Dean Sabatinelli ◽  
Markus Junghofer
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Cue Reactivity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Emotional Bias

AbstractThe ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a major hub of the reward system and has been shown to activate specifically in response to pleasant / rewarding stimuli. Previous studies demonstrate enhanced pleasant cue reactivity after single applications of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the vmPFC. Here we present a pilot case study in which we assess the cumulative impact of multiple consecutive vmPFC-tDCS sessions on the processing of visual emotional stimuli in an event-related MEG recording design. The results point to stable modulation of increased positivity biases (pleasant > unpleasant stimulus signal strength) after excitatory vmPFC stimulation and a reversed pattern (pleasant < unpleasant) after inhibitory stimulation across five consecutive tDCS sessions. Moreover, cumulative effects of these emotional bias modulations were observable for several source-localized spatio-temporal clusters, suggesting an increase in modulatory efficiency by repeated tDCS sessions. This pilot study provides evidence for improvements in the effectiveness and utility of a novel tDCS paradigm in the context of emotional processing.

scholarly journals Altered heartbeat perception sensitivity associated with brain structural alterations in generalised anxiety disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. e100057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Li ◽  
Bin Zhang ◽  
Qiang Hu ◽  
Lanlan Zhang ◽  
Yi Jin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Grey Matter Volume ◽  
Generalised Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Heartbeat Perception

BackgroundPalpitation is a common complaint in generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). Brain imaging studies have investigated the neural mechanism of heartbeat perception in healthy volunteers. This study explored the neuroanatomical differences of altered heartbeat perception in patients with GAD using structural MRI.AimsBased on the strong somatic-interoceptive symptoms in GAD, we explored the regional structural brain abnormalities involved in heartbeat perception in patients with GAD.MethodsThis study was applied to the a priori regions using neuroanatomical theories of heartbeat perception, including the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area and prefrontal cortex. A total of 19 patients with GAD and 19 healthy control subjects were enrolled. We used the FMRIB Software Library voxel-based morphometry software for estimating the grey matter volume of these regions of interest and analysed the correlation between heartbeat perception sensitivity and the volume of abnormal grey matter.ResultsPatients with GAD showed a significantly decreased volume of grey matter in their left medial prefrontal cortex, right orbital frontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. The grey matter volume of the left medial prefrontal cortex negatively correlated with heartbeat perception sensitivity in patients with GAD.ConclusionsIt should be the first study that shows heartbeat perception is associated with brain structure in GAD. Our findings suggest that the frontal region may play an important role in aberrant heartbeat perception processing in patients with GAD, and this may be an underlying mechanism resulting in the abnormal cardiovascular complaints in GAD. This is hypothesised as a ‘top-down’ deficiency, especially in the medial prefrontal cortex. This will provide the foundation for a more targeted region for neuromodulation intervention in the future.

VENTROMEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX REACTIVITY IS ALTERED IN GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER DURING FEAR GENERALIZATION

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsafrir Greenberg ◽  
Joshua M. Carlson ◽  
Jiook Cha ◽  
Greg Hajcak ◽  
Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Generalized Anxiety ◽  
Fear Generalization

scholarly journals Deep Brain Stimulation of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Disrupts Consolidation of Fear Memories

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn Zheng Kai Tan ◽  
Chi Him Poon ◽  
Ying-Shing Chan ◽  
Lee Wei Lim
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Deep Brain Stimulation ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Brain Stimulation ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Plus Maze ◽  
Deep Brain

ABSTRACTAnxiety disorders pose one of the biggest threats to mental health worldwide, yet current therapeutics have been mostly ineffective due to issues with relapse, efficacy, and toxicit. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising therapy for treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders including anxiety, but very little is known about the effects of DBS on fear memories. In this study, we used a modified plus-maze discriminative and showed that DBS of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was able to disrupt consolidation, but not acquisition or retrieval of fear memories. We validated these results using a standard tone-footshock fear conditioning paradigm. We further demonstrated short-term changes in dopaminergic receptor and c-Fos expression in the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) and established a partial casual role of dopamine 2 receptors in this effect. Lastly, we showed changes in neurotransmitter levels in the vHPC. This study highlights the potential therapeutic effect of vmPFC DBS to treat anxiety disorders.

scholarly journals The relationships between perfectionism, pathological worry and generalised anxiety disorder

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia K Handley ◽  
Sarah J Egan ◽  
Robert T Kane ◽  
Clare S Rees
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Generalised Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Pathological Worry

Emotional bias and inhibitory control processes in mania and depression

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1307-1321 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. C. MURPHY ◽  
B. J. SAHAKIAN ◽  
J. S. RUBINSZTEIN ◽  
A. MICHAEL ◽  
R. D. ROGERS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Neuropsychological Functioning ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Planning Ability ◽  
Affective Bias ◽  
Emotional Bias ◽  
Manic Patients

Background. Despite markedly different clinical presentations, few studies have reported differences in neuropsychological functioning between mania and depression. The disinhibited behaviour characteristic of mania and evidence that subgenual prefrontal cortex is differentially activated in mania and depression both suggest that dissociable deficits will emerge on tasks that require inhibitory control and are subserved by ventromedial prefrontal cortex.Methods. Manic patients and controls undertook computerized neuropsychological tests of memory and planning ability. In addition, manic and depressed patients were directly compared with controls on a novel affective shifting task that requires inhibitory control over different components of cognitive and emotional processing.Results. Manic patients were impaired on tests of memory and planning. Importantly, affective shifting performance of manic patients differed from that of depressed patients. Manic patients were impaired in their ability to inhibit behavioural responses and focus attention, but depressed patients were impaired in their ability to shift the focus of attention. Depressed patients exhibited an affective bias for negative stimuli, and we believe this to be the first demonstration of an affective bias for positive stimuli in manic patients.Conclusions. Observed impairments on tests of memory and planning suggest a global pathology for mania consistent with previous profiles for this disorder and similar to established profiles for depression. The results on the affective shifting task demonstrate the presence of mood-congruent bias and dissociable components of inhibitory control in mania and depression. Against a background of memory and planning impairments in the two groups, these findings are consistent with a role for the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in mediating mood–cognition relationships.

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