Takeshi Asami1, Masao Takaishi2, Ryota Nakamura2, Haruhisa Yoshida2, Asuka Yoshimi2, Thomas J Whitford3, Tomio Inoue4, Yoshio Hirayasu2. 1. Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0004, Japan. Electronic address: t_asami@yokohama-cu.ac.jp. 2. Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0004, Japan. 3. School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 4. Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Panic disorder (PD), an anxiety disorder characterized by the recurrence of panic attacks, has been reported to be associated with volumetric changes in several brain regions. There are, however, very few studies investigating abnormalities in cortical thickness, and little is known about the relationship between cortical thickness and social dysfunction in PD. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with PD and 38 healthy control participants (HC) were recruited for this study. A whole-brain analysis was performed to evaluate groupwise differences in cortical thickness using the FreeSurfer software. Symptom severity and social functioning were evaluated with the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. RESULTS: The patients with PD demonstrated a significant reduction in cortical thickness in the left rostral middle frontal cortex (MFC), compared with the HC. Correlational analyses revealed that cortical thickness in the left rostral MFC showed a significant negative relationship with PDSS score and a significant positive relationship with GAF scores in the PD patients. LIMITATIONS: All the patients received medication. CONCLUSION: PD patients showed reduced cortical thickness in the left rostral MFC compared with HC. Furthermore, cortical thickness in this region was associated with patients' symptom severity and degree of social dysfunction.
BACKGROUND:Panic disorder (PD), an anxiety disorder characterized by the recurrence of panic attacks, has been reported to be associated with volumetric changes in several brain regions. There are, however, very few studies investigating abnormalities in cortical thickness, and little is known about the relationship between cortical thickness and social dysfunction in PD. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with PD and 38 healthy control participants (HC) were recruited for this study. A whole-brain analysis was performed to evaluate groupwise differences in cortical thickness using the FreeSurfer software. Symptom severity and social functioning were evaluated with the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. RESULTS: The patients with PD demonstrated a significant reduction in cortical thickness in the left rostral middle frontal cortex (MFC), compared with the HC. Correlational analyses revealed that cortical thickness in the left rostral MFC showed a significant negative relationship with PDSS score and a significant positive relationship with GAF scores in the PDpatients. LIMITATIONS: All the patients received medication. CONCLUSION:PDpatients showed reduced cortical thickness in the left rostral MFC compared with HC. Furthermore, cortical thickness in this region was associated with patients' symptom severity and degree of social dysfunction.
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