Cortical morphometric predictors of autonomic dysfunction in generalized anxiety disorder

Carnevali, Luca; Mancini, Matteo; Koenig, Julian; Makovac, Elena; Watson, David; Meeten, Frances; Critchley, Hugo; Ottaviani, Cristina

doi:10.1016/j.autneu.2019.01.001

Cited by 27 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…An extensive literature has shown that a wide range of psychiatric disorders, especially anxiety and depression, can accompany migraine [4,[47][48][49]. Previous studies revealed cortical abnormalities in depression [35,50,51] and anxiety disorders [52][53][54][55]. However, these psychiatric problems are often under-diagnosed and have not been thoroughly assessed in CTh studies in migraine.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical thickness in migraine: a coordinate-based meta-analysis

Sheng

Shi³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Cortical thickness (CTh) analysis is a popular method to characterize brain morphometry. Many studies have been performed to investigate CTh abnormalities in migraine. However, the results from these studies were not consistent and even conflicting. These divergent results hinder us from obtaining a clear picture of brain morphometry regarding CTh alterations in migraine. Coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) is a promising technique to quantitatively pool individual neuroimaging studies to identify consistent brain areas involved. Methods Electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, and SinoMed) and other sources (bioRxiv and reference lists of relevant articles and reviews) were systematically searched for studies that compared regional CTh differences between patients with migraine and healthy controls (HCs) up to May 15, 2020. A CBMA was performed using the Seed-based d Mapping with Permutation of Subject Images (SDM-PSI) approach. Results In total, we identified 16 studies with 17 datasets reported that were eligible for the CBMA. The 17 datasets included 872 patients with migraine (average sample size 51.3, mean age 39.6 years, 721 females) and 949 HCs (average sample size 59.3, mean age 44.2 years, 680 females). The CBMA detected no statistically significant consistency of CTh alterations in patients with migraine relative to HCs. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis verified this result to be robust. Meta-regression analyses revealed that this CBMA result was not confounded by age, gender, aura, attack frequency per month, and illness duration. Conclusions Our CBMA adds to the evidence of the replication crisis in neuroimaging research that is increasingly recognized. The current evidence suggests that CTh is not a reliable biomarker of migraine. Many potential confounders, such as underpowered sample size, heterogeneous patient selection criteria, and differences in imaging collection and methodology, may contribute to the inconsistencies of CTh alterations in migraine, which merit attention before planning future research on this topic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical thickness in migraine: a coordinate-based meta-analysis

Sheng

Shi³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Neuroimaging studies also reveal heterogeneity in both structural and functional measures of brain regions involved in cognitive control among pathological worriers. For example, Makovac et al (2016a) and Carnevali et al (2019) found individuals with GAD to have lower average gray matter volume than healthy controls in regions of the PFC involved in top-down control. However, in contrast, Mohlman et al (2009) found medial orbital PFC volume to be positively associated with scores on the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unsurprisingly given such findings, studies have linked low resting vmHRV to pathological worry (e.g., Thayer et al, 1996 ; Carnevali et al, 2019 ). A meta-analysis by Chalmers et al (2014) shows that individuals with GAD do indeed have lower resting vmHRV on average than controls (Hedge’s g = −0.55).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heart Rate Variability Moderates the Association Between Beliefs About Worry and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

Fishback

Chriki²,

Thayer

et al. 2020

Front. Neurosci.

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Paradoxically, some individuals who experience pathological worry also have good capacity for top-down control over their thoughts. Why such individuals would nevertheless worry excessively remains unclear. One explanation is suggested by research showing that those experiencing pathological worry are set apart from healthy controls by their beliefs that worry has utility and that effective worrying requires them to consider all possibilities before terminating a worry bout. This suggests that worriers with good capacity for cognitive control may engage in prolonged worry because they believe it is adaptive to do so. In a sample of 109 college students, among whom individuals reporting pathological worry were overrepresented, we tested this hypothesis using an objective index of top-down control capacity (i.e., resting vagally mediated heart rate variability [vmHRV]) and self-report measures of beliefs about worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptom severity/status. As predicted, GAD symptom severity and vmHRV interacted to predict beliefs about worry. Specifically, high GAD symptoms were most strongly associated with beliefs that worry has utility at higher levels of vmHRV. Furthermore, this pattern was mostly a function of the belief that worry serves to distract the worrier from more emotional things. Similarly, high GAD symptoms were most strongly associated with endorsement of an ‘as many as can’ (AMAC) problem-solving rule when vmHRV was high . From the opposite perspective, both worry utility beliefs and AMAC rule endorsement were associated with the highest GAD symptom severity at higher levels of vmHRV. This was also true for the belief that worry distracts from more emotional things predicting analog GAD status. These results suggest that worriers who have higher levels of top-down control capacity may initiate and persist in worry, at least initially, because they value it. However, why they nevertheless rate their worry as excessive and uncontrollable is an important question for future research.

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“…Several studies have recently shown that resting-state HRV is associated with the morphology of the brain across regions of interest [ROI], indexed by cerebral cortical thickness [CT] (Carnevali et al, 2019;Koenig et al, 2018;Lin et al, Woodward, Kaloupek, Schaer, Martinez, & Eliez, 2008;Yoo et al, 2017). CT is considered to reflect cellular aspects of the cortical organization (Lerch, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortical Thickness and Resting State Cardiac Function Across the Lifespan: A Cross-Sectional Pooled Mega Analysis

Koenig¹,

Abler²,

Agartz³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Understanding the association between autonomic nervous system [ANS] function and brain morphology across the lifespan provides important insights into neurovisceral mechanisms underlying health and disease. Resting state ANS activity, indexed by measures of heart rate [HR] and its variability [HRV] has been associated with brain morphology, particularly cortical thickness [CT]. While findings have been mixed regarding the anatomical distribution and direction of the associations, these inconsistencies may be due to sex and age differences in HR/HRV and CT. Previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes, which impede the assessment of sex differences and aging effects on the association between ANS function and CT. To overcome these limitations, 20 groups worldwide contributed data collected under similar protocols of CT assessment and HR/HRV recording to be pooled in a mega-analysis (N = 1,218 (50.5% female), mean age 36.7 years (range: 12-87)). Findings suggest that the decline in HRV with increasing age is related to a decline in prefrontal CT, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex. These effects were independent of sex and specific to HRV; with no significant association between CT and HR. Greater CT across the adult lifespan may be vital for the maintenance of healthy cardiac regulation via the ANS. Nonetheless, in the absence of longitudinal data, alternative explanations need to be considered. Findings reveal an important association between cortical thickness and cardiac parasympathetic activity with implications for healthy aging and longevity.

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Cortical morphometric predictors of autonomic dysfunction in generalized anxiety disorder

Cited by 27 publications

References 91 publications

Cortical thickness in migraine: a coordinate-based meta-analysis

Cortical thickness in migraine: a coordinate-based meta-analysis

Heart Rate Variability Moderates the Association Between Beliefs About Worry and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

Cortical Thickness and Resting State Cardiac Function Across the Lifespan: A Cross-Sectional Pooled Mega Analysis

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