Structural integrity of the limbic-prefrontal connection: Neuropathological correlates of anxiety in Williams syndrome

Autor: Timothy T. Brown, Rowena Ng, Matthew Erhart, Eric Halgren, Anna Järvinen, Ursula Bellugi, Julie R. Korenberg
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Male
Williams Syndrome
Image Processing
Anxiety
Neuropsychological Tests
Developmental psychology
Behavioral Neuroscience
0302 clinical medicine
Computer-Assisted
Surveys and Questionnaires
Neural Pathways
Image Processing
Computer-Assisted
Limbic System
Psychology
media_common
05 social sciences
Experimental Psychology
Middle Aged
medicine.anatomical_structure
Mental Health
DTI
Biomedical Imaging
Cognitive Sciences
Female
Williams syndrome
medicine.symptom
Adult
Social Psychology
Adolescent
media_common.quotation_subject
Uncinate fasciculus
Prefrontal Cortex
Development
050105 experimental psychology
Article
White matter
03 medical and health sciences
Young Adult
Rare Diseases
Clinical Research
Fractional anisotropy
Behavioral and Social Science
medicine
Personality
Humans
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Analysis of Variance
Sociability
Neurosciences
Structural integrity
medicine.disease
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Cognition Disorders
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Diffusion MRI
Zdroj: Social neuroscience, vol 11, iss 2
ISSN: 1747-0927
Popis: Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic condition characterized by a hypersocial personality and desire to form close relationships, juxtaposed with significant anxieties of non-social events. The neural underpinnings of anxiety in individuals with WS are currently unknown. Aberrations in the anatomical and microstructural integrity of the uncinate fasciculus (UF) have been recently implicated in social and generalized anxiety disorders. Based on these findings, we tested the hypothesis that the reported anxieties in individuals with WS share similar neuropathological correlates. Towards this end, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) methods were employed to examine the microstructural integrity (fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, longitudinal diffusivity) of the UF in 18 WS and 15 typically developing adults (TD). Anxiety and sociability questionnaires were administered to determine associations with DTI indices of UF across groups. Results revealed comparable white matter integrity of the UF across groups, yet elevated subjective experience of anxiety in those with WS. Additionally, sociability and UF microstructural properties were dissociated across both groups. Whereas no relationships were found between DTI indices and anxiety in TD participants, strong negative associations were observed between these constructs in individuals with WS. Findings indicated that increased anxiety manifested by individuals with WS was associated with DTI measures of the UF and may signal structural or possibly physiological aberration involving this tract within the prefrontal-temporal network.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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