A Preliminary Investigation of the Functional Neurocircuitry of Worry
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Chen, Pin-Hao
Abstract
Worry has been regarded as the central phenomenon of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and proven to be predominantly in the verbal-linguistic form, which plays an important role in the avoidance theory of worry. According to this theory, worry may involve several different systems with a dynamic process. However, no previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study has systematically examined the underlying functional mechanisms of this complex dynamic process. Using fMRI, findings from the present study provided evidence from neural substrates to support several lines of behavioral research in worry and furthered our understanding about the nature of worry. First, bilateral temporo-parietal regions and anterior medial PFC might engage in a complex verbal-linguistic neuro-network. Second, the worrisome mentation is not purely verbal-linguistic in nature, but also involved regions closely related to visual mental imagery formation. Third, our analogue GAD group had greater activations in areas related to both verbal-linguistic processing and mental imagery. Lastly, the neural substrates related to anticipation of negative consequences might play a crucial role in modulating the different dynamic patterns of activations observed between verbal-linguistic processing and mental imagery. For the high worriers, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is thought to employ verbal-linguistic processes as an avoidance action against negative affect. In contrast, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) might execute a more complete extinction process through inhibiting the amygdala in low worriers. The above, thus provided a basis for the functional neurocircuitry of worry.
Subjects
worry
fMRI
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
verbal-linguistic processing
mental imagery
anticipation of negative consequences
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