University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications

Title

Anxiety is related to indices of cortical maturation in typically developing children and adolescents

UMMS Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry

Publication Date

2015-07-17

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Developmental Neuroscience | Mental Disorders | Psychiatry

Abstract

Anxiety is a risk factor for many adverse neuropsychiatric and socioeconomic outcomes, and has been linked to functional and structural changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). However, the nature of these differences, as well as how they develop in children and adolescents, remains poorly understood. More effective interventions to minimize the negative consequences of anxiety require better understanding of its neurobiology in children. Recent research suggests that structural imaging studies may benefit from clearly delineating between cortical surface area and thickness when examining these associations, as these distinct cortical phenotypes are influenced by different cellular mechanisms and genetic factors. The present study examined relationships between cortical surface area and thickness of the VMPFC and a self-report measure of anxiety (SCARED-R) in 287 youths aged 7-20 years from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition, and Genetics (PING) study. Age and gender interactions were examined for significant associations in order to test for developmental differences. Cortical surface area and thickness were also examined simultaneously to determine whether they contribute independently to the prediction of anxiety. Anxiety was negatively associated with relative cortical surface area of the VMPFC as well as with global cortical thickness, but these associations diminished with age. The two cortical phenotypes contributed additively to the prediction of anxiety. These findings suggest that higher anxiety in children may be characterized by both delayed expansion of the VMPFC and an altered trajectory of global cortical thinning. Further longitudinal studies will be needed to confirm these findings.

DOI of Published Version

10.1007/s00429-015-1085-9

Source

Brain Struct Funct. 2015 Jul 17. Link to article on publisher's site

Comments

Full author list omitted for brevity. For the full list of authors see article.

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Brain structure and function

PubMed ID

26183468

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