State and trait anxiety related gamma oscillations in patients with anxiety within the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework

Abstract

Background Diagnosis of anxiety has relied primarily on self-report. This study examined using quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) to assess the association between anxiety and underlying neural correlates. Methods A total of 41 participants who visited a psychiatric clinic underwent resting state EEG and completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The absolute power of six frequency bands were analyzed: delta (1–4 Hz), theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–10 Hz), fast alpha (10–13.5 Hz), beta (13.5–30 Hz), and gamma (30–80 Hz). Results State anxiety scores were significantly negatively correlated with absolute gamma power in frontal (Fz, r = -0.484) and central (Cz, r = -0.523) regions, while trait anxiety scores were significantly negatively correlated with absolute gamma power in frontal (Fz, r = -0.523), central (Cz, r = -0.568), parietal (P7, r = -0.500; P8, r = -0.541), and occipital (O1, r = -0.510; O2, r = -0.480) regions. Conclusions The present study identified the significantly negative correlations between the anxiety level and gamma band power in fronto-central and posterior regions assessed at resting status. Further studies to confirm our findings and identify the neural correlates of anxiety are needed.