A magnetic resonance imaging study of cortical thickness in animal phobia

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.12.022

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 55, Issue 9, 1 May 2004, Pages 946-952

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.12.022 Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Despite the high prevalence of specific phobia (SP), its neural substrates remain undetermined. Although an initial series of functional neuroimaging studies have implicated paralimbic and sensory cortical regions in the pathophysiology of SP, to date contemporary morphometric neuroimaging methods have not been applied to test specific hypotheses regarding structural abnormalities.

Methods

Morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods were used to measure regional cortical thickness in 10 subjects with SP (animal type) and 20 healthy comparison (HC) subjects.

Results

Consistent with a priori hypotheses, between-group differences in cortical thickness were found within paralimbic and sensory cortical regions. Specifically, in comparison with the HC group, the SP group exhibited increased cortical thickness in bilateral insular, bilateral pregenual anterior cingulate, and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex as well as left visual cortical regions.

Conclusions

Taken together, these structural findings parallel results from initial functional imaging studies that implicate paralimbic and sensory cortical regions in the mediating anatomy of SP symptoms. Further research will be necessary to replicate these findings and to determine their specificity as well as their pathophysiologic significance.

Section snippets

Subjects

Written informed consent was obtained from each subject in accordance with the Institutional Review Board of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Subjects participated as paid volunteers after being recruited through advertisements posted in the community. The study sample comprised 10 subjects with SP and 20 HC subjects, group matched for gender, age, and years of education (see Table 1); all subjects were right-handed (Oldfield 1971). A structured clinical interview (SCID; First et al 1994)

Results

The omnibus test for between-group differences in whole brain cortical thickness yielded significant results (mean cortical thickness ± SD: SP = 2.16 ± .42 mm, HC = 2.11 ± .45 mm; t(1284) = 3.19, p = .001). Likewise analogous omnibus tests of between-group differences in cortical thickness revealed significant findings separately for both the right (SP = 2.17 ± .43 mm, HC = 2.10 ± .45 mm; t(642) = 2.33, p = .02) and left hemispheres (SP = 2.16 ± .42 mm, HC = 2.09 ± .42 mm; t(642) = 3.00, p =

Discussion

In comparison with a group of HC, a cohort of subjects with SP (animal type) were found to exhibit increased cortical thickness across several subterritories of paralimbic cortex as well as sensory cortex. This increase in thickness was found within insular, pregenual anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, and visual cortical regions, which have been implicated in previous functional neuroimaging studies of SP.

The strengths of this study include a well-characterized, diagnostically pure,

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grant No. RO1 MH60219 (SLR), National Institute of Mental Health Grant No. K23 MH64806 (CIW), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (CIW), National Center for Research Resources Grant Nos. RR16594 (BF) and P41RR14075 (BF), and the Mental Illness and Neuroscience Discovery Institute.

We thank Mary Foley, Jen Holmes, Linda Leahy, and Larry White for technical assistance.

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Original articleA magnetic resonance imaging study of cortical thickness in animal phobia

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Subjects

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Neuroscience

Psychiatry Res

Trends Cogn Sci

Neuroimage

Neurosci Lett

Neuroimage

Biol Psychiatry

Neuron

Biol Psychiatry

Trends Neurosci

Neuropsychologia

Neuroimage

Neuropsychopharmacol

Eur J Pharmacol

Curr Opin Neurobiol

Curr Opin Neurobiol

Psychiatry Res

Biol Psychiatry

Psychiatry Res

Biol Psychiatry

The AmygdalaNeurobiological Aspects of Emotion, Memory and Mental Dysfunction

Anatomical organization of the primate amygdaloid complex

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Functional neuroimaging of visceral sensation

J Clin Neurophysiol

Beck Anxiety Inventory Manual

An inventory for measuring depression

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Functional MRI changes during panic anticipation and imagery exposure

Neuroreport

Improved localization of cortical activity by combining EEG and MEG with MRI cortical surface reconstructionA linear approach

J Cogn Neurosci

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J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci

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Biol Psychiatry

Original article
A magnetic resonance imaging study of cortical thickness in animal phobia