Voxel-based morphometry multi-center mega-analysis of brain structure in social anxiety disorderShow others and affiliations
2017 (English)In: NeuroImage: Clinical, E-ISSN 2213-1582, Vol. 16, p. 678-688Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent and disabling mental disorder, associated with significant psychiatric comorbidity. Previous research on structural brain alterations associated with SAD has yielded inconsistent results concerning the direction of the changes in graymatter (GM) in various brain regions, as well as on the relationship between brain structure and SAD-symptomatology. These heterogeneous findings are possibly due to limited sample sizes. Multisite imaging offers new opportunities to investigate SAD-related alterations in brain structure in larger samples. An international multi-center mega-analysis on the largest database of SAD structural T1-weighted 3T MRI scans to date was performed to compare GM volume of SAD-patients (n = 174) and healthy control (HC)-participants (n = 213) using voxel-based morphometry. A hypothesis-driven region of interest (ROI) approach was used, focusing on the basal ganglia, the amygdala-hippocampal complex, the prefrontal cortex, and the parietal cortex. SAD-patients had larger GM volume in the dorsal striatum when compared to HC-participants. This increase correlated positively with the severity of self-reported social anxiety symptoms. No SAD-related differences in GM volume were present in the other ROIs. Thereby, the results of this mega-analysis suggest a role for the dorsal striatum in SAD, but previously reported SAD-related changes in GM in the amygdala, hippocampus, precuneus, prefrontal cortex and parietal regions were not replicated. Our findings emphasize the importance of large sample imaging studies and the need for meta-analyses like those performed by the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
ELSEVIER SCI LTD , 2017. Vol. 16, p. 678-688
Keywords [en]
Social anxiety disorder; Structural MRI; Voxel-based morphometry; Gray matter; Mega-analysis; Striatum
National Category
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-143005DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.08.001ISI: 000413235100071OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-143005DiVA, id: diva2:1156518
Note
Funding Agencies|Leiden University; Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO); EU 7th Frame Work Marie Curie Actions International Staff Exchange Scheme grant European and South African Research Network in Anxiety Disorders (EUSARNAD); South African Medical Research Council; Collaborative Research Center "Fear, Anxiety, and Anxiety disorders" in Munster - German Research Society [SFB/TRR-58]; German Research Society [STR 987/6-1]; Geestkracht programme of the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) [10-000-1002]; Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction (Trimbos Institute); Swedish Research Council; Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare; VU University Medical Center; GGZ inGeest, Arkin; Leiden University Medical Center; GGZ Rivierduinen; University Medical Center Groningen; Lentis, GGZ Friesland; GGZ Drenthe; IQ Healthcare; Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL)
2017-11-132017-11-132024-01-17