UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The Overlapping Neurobiology of Induced and Pathological Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis of Functional Neural Activation

Chavanne, AV; Robinson, OJ; (2021) The Overlapping Neurobiology of Induced and Pathological Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis of Functional Neural Activation. The American Journal of Psychiatry , 178 (2) pp. 156-164. 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.19111153. Green open access

[thumbnail of Robinson_Preprint.pdf]
Preview
Text
Robinson_Preprint.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Objective: Although anxiety can be an adaptive response to unpredictable threats, pathological anxiety disorders occur when symptoms adversely affect daily life. Whether or not adaptive and pathological anxiety share mechanisms remains unknown, but if they do, induced (adaptive) anxiety could be used as an intermediate translational model of pathological anxiety to improve drug development pipelines. The authors therefore compared meta-analyses of functional neuroimaging studies of induced and pathological anxiety. / Methods: A systematic search of the PubMed database was conducted in June 2019 for whole-brain functional MRI articles. Eligible articles contrasted either anxious patients to control subjects or an unpredictable-threat condition to a safe condition in healthy participants. Five anxiety disorders were included: posttraumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and specific phobia. A total of 3,433 records were identified, 181 articles met selection criteria, and the largest subset of task type was emotional (N=138). Seed-based d-mapping software was used for all analyses. / Results: Induced anxiety (N=693 participants) and pathological anxiety (N=2,554 patients and 2,348 control subjects) both showed increased activation in the left and right insula (coordinates, 44, 14, −14 and −38, 20, −8; k=2,102 and k=1,305, respectively) and cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex (−12, −8, 68; k=2,217). When the analyses were split by disorder, specific phobia appeared the most, and generalized anxiety disorder the least, similar to induced anxiety. / Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicates a consistent pattern of activation across induced and pathological anxiety, supporting the proposition that some neurobiological mechanisms overlap and that the former may be used as a model for the latter. Induced anxiety might nevertheless be a better model for some anxiety disorders than others.

Type: Article
Title: The Overlapping Neurobiology of Induced and Pathological Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis of Functional Neural Activation
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.19111153
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.19111153
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Anxiety Disorders, Functional Neuroimaging, fMRI
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10112497
Downloads since deposit
174Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item