Socially anxious individuals report higher social fears and feelings of distress in interpersonal interactions. Structural neuroimaging studies indicate brain morphological abnormalities in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD), but findings are heterogeneous and partially discrepant. Studies on structural correlates of socially anxious tendencies in participants without clinical diagnoses are scarce. Using structural magnetic resonance imaging, the present study examined the relationship between social interaction anxiety and gray matter (GM) volume in 38 healthy women. The amygdala and nucleus accumbens (NAcc) were defined as a priori regions of interest. Moreover, exploratory whole-brain analyses were conducted. Higher levels of social anxiety significantly predicted increased GM volume in the right amygdala [k = 262 voxels, voxel-level threshold at p < .05 (uncorrected), with a cluster-corrected significance level of p = 0.05 calculated by Monte Carlo Simulations] and bilateral NAcc [left: k = 52 voxels, right: k = 49 voxels; at p < .05 (corrected for search volume)]. These relationships remained significant when controlling for a potential influence of trait anxiety. Additionally, socially anxious tendencies were associated with an enlarged striatum [i.e., putamen and caudate; left: k = 567 voxels, right: k = 539 voxels; at p < .001 (uncorrected)]. Our findings indicate that higher social interaction anxiety in healthy individuals is related to amygdalar and striatal volumetric increases. These brain regions are known to be involved in social perception, anxiety, and the avoidance of harm. Future studies may clarify whether the observed morphological alterations constitute a structural vulnerability factor for SAD.
Keywords: MRI; magnetic resonance imaging; social anxiety; voxel-based morphometry.
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