Imaging the cerebellum in post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders: a mini-review

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions worldwide sharing many clinical manifestations and, most likely, neural mechanisms as suggested by neuroimaging research. While the so-called fear circuitry and traditional limbic structures of the brain, particularly the amygdala, have been extensively studied in sufferers of these disorders, the cerebellum has been relatively underexplored. The aim of this paper was to present a mini-review of functional (task-activity or resting-state connectivity) and structural (gray matter volume) results on the cerebellum as reported in magnetic resonance imaging studies of patients with PTSD or anxiety disorders (49 selected studies in 1,494 patients). While mixed results were noted overall, e.g., regarding the direction of effects and anatomical localization, cerebellar structures like the vermis seem to be highly involved. Still, the neurofunctional and structural alterations reported for the cerebellum in excessive anxiety and trauma are complex, and in need of further evaluation.

Reduced volume of the left cerebellar lobule VIIb and its increased connectivity within the cerebellum predict more general psychopathology one year later via worse cognitive flexibility in children

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that the morphological structure constrains functional connectivity ( Pang et al, 2023 ; Schutter, 2021 ; Segall et al, 2012 ; Yee et al, 2018 ); therefore, we speculated that the functional connectivity of the left cerebellar lobule VIIb within the cerebellum may be related to the p factor. More importantly, previous studies have demonstrated that intra-cerebellar functional connectivity is associated with diverse mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, cognitive affective syndrome, and posttraumatic stress and anxiety disorder ( Dong et al, 2022 , Feng et al, 2022 , Gil-Paterna and Furmark, 2023 , Stoodley and Schmahmann, 2023 ). The intra-cerebellar functional connectivity may be related to the risk for general psychopathology.…”