Aims: Anxiety a core feature of panic disorder, is linked to function of the amygdala. Volume alterations in the brain of patients with panic disorder have previously been reported, but there has been no report of amygdala volume association with anxiety.Methods: Volumes of hippocampus and amygdala were manually measured using magnetic resonance imaging obtained from 27 patients with panic disorder and 30 healthy comparison subjects. In addition the amygdala was focused on, applying small volume correction to optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the NEO Personality Inventory Revised were also used to evaluate anxiety.
Results: Amygdala volumes in both hemisphereswere significantly smaller in patients with panic disorder compared with control subjects (left: t = -2.248, d.f. = 55, P = 0.029; right: t = -2.892, d.f. = 55, P = 0.005). VBM showed that structural alteration in the panic disorder group occurred on the corticomedial nuclear group within the right amygdala (coordinates [x,y,z (mm)]: [26,-6,-16], Z score = 3.92, family-wise error-corrected P = 0.002). The state anxiety was negatively correlated with the left amygdala volume in patients with panic disorder (r = -0.545, P = 0.016).Conclusions: These findings suggested that the smaller volume of the amygdala may be associated with anxiety in panic disorder. Of note, the smaller subregion in the amygdala estimated on VBM could correspond to the corticomedial nuclear group including the central nucleus, which may play a crucial role in panic attack.
Both manual ROI tracing and optimized VBM suggest a subregion-specific pattern of ACC volume deficit in panic disorder. In addition to functional abnormalities, these results suggest that structural abnormalities of the ACC contribute to the pathophysiology of panic disorder.
Although the insula and temporal pole (TP) of paralimbic regions are important in both affective and cognitive processing, it is not well known whether gray matter volume (GMV) abnormalities in these regions show post-onset progression and differentially affect first-episode schizophrenia (FESZ) and first-episode affective psychosis (FEAFF) patients. To determine whether there are initial and progressive GMV deficits in insula and TP in FESZ and FEAFF (mainly manic) patients, their relative specificity to FESZ or FEAFF, and relationship to symptoms, we conducted a naturalistic study at first hospitalization for psychosis and follow-up ~1.5 years later. Initial 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and follow-up scans were on the same scanner. Twenty-two FESZ, 23 FEAFF, and 23 healthy control (HC) subjects were group matched for age, gender, parental socioeconomic status, and handedness. At first hospitalization, FESZ showed significantly smaller bilateral insular GMV compared with FEAFF, and smaller left TP GMV compared with FEAFF and HC. Moreover, on 1.5 years follow-up, FESZ showed progressive GMV decreases in bilateral insula compared with FEAFF and HC, and in TP GMV compared with HC. In contrast, FEAFF showed no progression. Progression of FESZ GMV in both insula and TP was inversely associated with changes in the overall Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale symptom score, indicating less improvement or worsening of symptoms.
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