BACKGROUND: Childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) has been associated with disturbances in emotional and behavioral functioning, and with changes in regional brain morphology. However, whether CEM... Show moreBACKGROUND: Childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) has been associated with disturbances in emotional and behavioral functioning, and with changes in regional brain morphology. However, whether CEM has any effect on the intrinsic organization of the brain is not known. In this study, we investigated the effects of CEM on resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) using seeds in the limbic network, the default-mode network (DMN) and the salience network, and the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Method Using 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) scans were obtained. We defined seeds in the bilateral amygdala, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the left dmPFC, and used these to examine whether individuals reporting CEM (n=44) differed from individuals reporting no CEM (n=44) in RSFC with other brain regions. The two groups were matched for age, gender, handedness and the presence of psychopathology. RESULTS: CEM was associated with decreased RSFC between the right amygdala and the bilateral precuneus and a cluster extending from the left insula to the hippocampus and putamen. In addition, CEM was associated with decreased RSFC between the dACC and the precuneus and also frontal regions of the brain. CONCLUSIONS: We found that CEM has a profound effect on RSFC in the limbic network and the salience network. Regions that show aberrant connectivity are related to episodic memory encoding, retrieval and self-processing operations. Show less
Pannekoek, J.N.; Veer, I.M.; Tol, M.J. van; Werff, S.J.A. van der; Demenescu, L.R.; Aleman, A.; ... ; Wee, N.J.A. van der 2012
The neurobiology of social anxiety disorder (SAD) is not yet fully understood. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies in SAD have identified abnormalities in various brain areas,... Show moreThe neurobiology of social anxiety disorder (SAD) is not yet fully understood. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies in SAD have identified abnormalities in various brain areas, particularly the amygdala and elements of the salience network. This study is the first to examine resting-state functional brain connectivity in a drug-naive sample of SAD patients without psychiatric comorbidity and healthy controls, using seed regions of interest in bilateral amygdala, in bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex for the salience network, and in bilateral posterior cingulate cortex for the default mode network. Twelve drug-naive SAD patients and pair-wise matched healthy controls, all drawn from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety sample, underwent resting-state fMRI. Group differences were assessed with voxel-wise gray matter density as nuisance regressor. All results were cluster corrected for multiple comparisons (Z>2.3, p<.05). Relative to control subjects, drug-naive SAD patients demonstrated increased negative right amygdala connectivity with the left middle temporal gyrus, left supramarginal gyrus and left lateral occipital cortex. In the salience network patients showed increased positive bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate connectivity with the left precuneus and left lateral occipital cortex. Default mode network connectivity was not different between groups. These data demonstrate that drug-naive SAD patients without comorbidity show differences in functional connectivity of the amygdala, and of areas involved in self-awareness, some of which have not been implicated in SAD before. Show less
