Amygdala-orbitofrontal structural and functional connectivity in females with anxiety disorders, with and without a history of conduct disorder

Abstract

Conduct disorder (CD) and anxiety disorders (ADs) are often comorbid and both are characterized by hyper-sensitivity to threat, and reduced structural and functional connectivity between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Previous studies of CD have not taken account of ADs nor directly compared connectivity in the two disorders. We examined three groups of young women: 23 presenting CD and lifetime AD; 30 presenting lifetime AD and not CD; and 17 with neither disorder (ND). Participants completed clinical assessments and diffusion-weighted and resting-state functional MRI scans. The uncinate fasciculus was reconstructed using tractography and manual dissection, and structural measures extracted. Correlations of resting-state activity between amygdala and OFC seeds were computed. The CD + AD and AD groups showed similarly reduced structural integrity of the left uncinate compared to ND, even after adjusting for IQ, psychiatric comorbidity, and childhood maltreatment. Uncinate integrity was associated with harm avoidance traits among AD-only women, and with the interaction of poor anger control and anxiety symptoms among CD + AD women. Groups did not differ in functional connectivity. Reduced uncinate integrity observed in CD + AD and AD-only women may reflect deficient emotion regulation in response to threat, common to both disorders, while other neural mechanisms determine the behavioral response.

Attentional control abnormalities in posttraumatic stress disorder: Functional, behavioral, and structural correlates

“…Integrity of this tract has been associated with Stroop task performance (He et al, 2016; Schulte et al, 2012); more broadly, it is involved in emotion regulation (d’Arbeloff et al, 2018; Zheng et al, 2018). Disruptions in UF integrity have been linked to mood, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders (Lindner et al, 2018; Jenkins et al, 2016; Koch et al, 2017; Liao et al, 2014). Taken together, alterations in this fronto-limbic pathway appear to influence attentional control in the context of emotion in people with PTSD.…”

Maternal Interleukin-6 concentration during pregnancy is associated with variation in frontolimbic white matter and cognitive development in early life

“…amygdala) regions to facilitate a direct structural link between higher-order cognition and emotional regulation. Reduced integrity of the UF has been linked to a range of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders (e.g., anxiety, 35 autism, [36][37] conduct disorder 39 , schizophrenia, [40][41][42][43] and psychopathy [44][45][46] ), all of which are characterized by common underlying symptoms of socioemotional and cognitive deficits. Additional evidence of the importance of UF integrity in socioemotional and cognitive phenotypes comes from of a diverse set of studies in which socioemotional and cognitive deficits are preceded by structural insults to frontolimbic circuitry (e.g., traumatic brain injury, 47 frontotemporal lobar degeneration, 48 acute ischemic stroke, 49 early life stress, 50 and preterm birth 51 ).…”

Missed Diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder with Catatonia Features

“…Of note, among catatonic patients, only the right orbitofrontal activity was reduced; the left orbitofrontal lobe activity remained unchanged [4]. Patients with anxiety also showed a reduction in activity in the orbitofrontal area [8]. We believe the success of BZD in our patients could be due to the alleviation of anxiety.…”