807. Characterizing Similarities and Differences between Preadolescent Girls At-Risk for and Currently Experiencing Anxiety Disorders (ADs)
Section snippets
Background
While anxiety disorders (ADs) frequently have their onset in early childhood, few studies have examined the neural underpinning of childhood ADs. We previously demonstrated that preadolescent children with ADs have increased activation of the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and anterior insula (AI) in response to a paradigm that models anticipatory anxiety. Here, we further examine alterations in uncertainty processing in a unique sample of preadolescent girls with a range
Methods
Forty-eight treatment-naive girls (age 9-11; 36 at-risk, 12 AD), viewed 2-minute blocks of negative or neutral pictures during an fMRI scan. The emotional pictures were separated by a series of clock images that were either presented in sequential order and “countdown” to image presentation (Certain condition), or were presented in a random order, making the exact timing of picture presentation unknown (Uncertain condition).
Results
All subjects demonstrated greater activation during Uncertain blocks, relative to Certain blocks, in the amygdala, BNST, and AI (p <0.05 corrected), regardless of picture valance. AD girls showed greater activation in the amygdala relative to at-risk girls (p < 0.05), while the magnitude of response in the BNST and AI did not differ between groups.
Conclusions
These findings highlight increased amygdala activation early in life that is associated with anticipatory anxiety, a core clinical feature of ADs. The findings also suggest alterations in brain function that are shared between high-risk and AD girls.
Supported By
1R01MH107563
Keywords
pediatric anxiety, extended amygdala (CeA/BST), Uncertainty, anticipation, BOLD fMRI