Structural and Functional Connectivity Changes in the Brain Associated with Shyness but Not with Social Anxiety

Yang, Xun; Kendrick, Keith M.; Wu, Qisong; Chen, Taolin; Lama, Sunima; Cheng, Bo-Chao; Li, Shiguang; Huang, Xiaoqi; Gong, Qiyong

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063151

Cited by 19 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…pSTS rGMV is increased in SAD and shyness (e.g. 87,94 ), and increased pSTS activity to social perceptual cues (eye gaze etc.) has been consistently demonstrated in individuals who are social inhibited, shy, and socially anxious [95][96][97][98] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain structure correlates of expected social threat and reward

Crawford

Muhlert

MacDonald

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Prospection (mentally simulating future events) generates emotionally-charged mental images that guide social decision-making. Positive and negative social expectancies—imagining new social interactions to be rewarding versus threatening—are core components of social approach and avoidance motivation, respectively. Interindividual differences in such positive and negative future-related cognitions may be underpinned by distinct neuroanatomical substrates. Here, we asked 100 healthy adults to vividly imagine themselves in a novel self-relevant event that was ambiguous with regards to possible social acceptance or rejection. During this task we measured participants’ expectancies for social reward (anticipated feelings of social connection) or threat (anticipated feelings of rejection). On a separate day they underwent structural MRI; voxel-based morphometry was used to explore the relation between social reward and threat expectancies and regional grey matter volumes (rGMV). Increased rGMV in key default-network regions involved in prospection, socio-emotional cognition, and subjective valuation, including ventromedial prefrontal cortex, correlated with both higher social reward and lower social threat expectancies. In contrast, social threat expectancies uniquely correlated with rGMV of regions involved in social attention (posterior superior temporal sulcus, pSTS) and interoception (somatosensory cortex). These findings provide novel insight into the neurobiology of future-oriented cognitive-affective processes critical to adaptive social functioning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain structure correlates of expected social threat and reward

Crawford

Muhlert

MacDonald

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…Previous work shows similar negative amygdala-insula functional connectivity in adults characterized in childhood with BI during threat processing (Hardee, et al, 2013). In addition, associations between insula volume and similar temperamental traits such as shyness have been reported (Yang et al, 2013). Although not initially hypothesized, group differences in amygdala- striatal iFC are consistent with previous task-based studies showing altered striatal function in behaviorally inhibited adolescents (Bar-Haim et al, 2009; Guyer et al, 2006; Helfinstein et al, 2011) and adolescents with an anxiety disorder (Guyer et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alterations in amygdala functional connectivity reflect early temperament

Roy

Benson

Degnan

et al. 2014

Biological Psychology

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Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament identified early in life that is associated with increased risk for anxiety disorders. Amygdala hyperresponsivity, found both in behaviorally inhibited and anxious individuals, suggests that amygdala dysfunction may represent a marker of anxiety risk. However, broader amygdala networks have not been examined in individuals with a history of childhood BI. This study uses resting state fMRI to assess amygdala intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) in 38 healthy young adults (19 with a history of BI, 19 with no history of BI) selected from a longitudinal study. Centromedial, basolateral, and superficial amygdala iFCs were compared between groups and examined in relation to self-report measures of anxiety. Group differences were observed in amygdala iFC with prefrontal cortex, striatum, anterior insula, and cerebellum. Adults characterized with BI in childhood endorsed greater state anxiety prior to entering the scanner, which was associated with several of the group differences. Findings support enduring effects of BI on amygdala circuitry, even in the absence of current psychopathology.

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“…An emerging body of studies has attempted to identify the biological bases of shyness. Recently, it has been reported that, in healthy subjects, the shyness scores positively correlate with GM density in the left cerebellar posterior lobe and right superior temporal gyrus [97]. Furthermore, significant positive correlations between shyness scores and functional connectivity have been found for left cerebellar posterior lobe [97].…”

Section: Cerebellar Involvement In Managing Anxiety-related Behaviorsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Viewing the Personality Traits Through a Cerebellar Lens: a Focus on the Constructs of Novelty Seeking, Harm Avoidance, and Alexithymia

et al. 2016

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The variance in the range of personality trait expression appears to be linked to structural variance in specific brain regions. In evidencing associations between personality factors and neurobiological measures, it seems evident that the cerebellum has not been up to now thought as having a key role in personality. This paper will review the most recent structural and functional neuroimaging literature that engages the cerebellum in personality traits, as novelty seeking and harm avoidance, and it will discuss the findings in the context of contemporary theories of affective and cognitive cerebellar function. By using region of interest (ROI)- and voxel-based approaches, we recently evidenced that the cerebellar volumes correlate positively with novelty seeking scores and negatively with harm avoidance scores. Subjects who search for new situations as a novelty seeker does (and a harm avoiding does not do) show a different engagement of their cerebellar circuitries in order to rapidly adapt to changing environments. The emerging model of cerebellar functionality may explain how the cerebellar abilities in planning, controlling, and putting into action the behavior are associated to normal or abnormal personality constructs. In this framework, it is worth reporting that increased cerebellar volumes are even associated with high scores in alexithymia, construct of personality characterized by impairment in cognitive, emotional, and affective processing. On such a basis, it seems necessary to go over the traditional cortico-centric view of personality constructs and to address the function of the cerebellar system in sustaining aspects of motivational network that characterizes the different temperamental traits.

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Structural and Functional Connectivity Changes in the Brain Associated with Shyness but Not with Social Anxiety

Cited by 19 publications

References 93 publications

Brain structure correlates of expected social threat and reward

Brain structure correlates of expected social threat and reward

Alterations in amygdala functional connectivity reflect early temperament

Viewing the Personality Traits Through a Cerebellar Lens: a Focus on the Constructs of Novelty Seeking, Harm Avoidance, and Alexithymia

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