Structural differences in pediatric anxiety disorders

Authors

• ER Steuber
• AL Gold
• J Pacheco
• E Leibenluft
• DS Pine

Abstract

Background: Previous research in adults links anxiety disorders to structural differences in cortical and subcortical brain regions, but few structural studies examine pediatric anxiety. Initial pediatric findings indicate gray matter volume (GMV) differences in the hippocampus, amygdala, insula, and prefrontal cortex (PFC), although studies have produced equivocal results. Only one prior study examined cortical thickness (CT) in pediatric anxiety patients, demonstrating increased CT in the ventromedial PFC and ventrolateral PFC (vlPFC; Strawn et al., 2014). We hypothesized structural differences in youths with and without anxious disorders in the PFC, insular cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Methods: High-resolution structural 3-Tesla MRI scans were obtained from 42 healthy and 43 anxious youths, group-matched on age, sex, IQ, and socioeconomic status. CT and GMVs were computed from automated parcellation/segmentation using Freesurfer analysis software. We conducted a whole-brain CT analysis (p

Scientific Focus Area: Neuroscience

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