Altered local gyrification index and corresponding resting-state functional connectivity in individuals with high test anxiety

Lulu Hou; Wenpei Zhang; Qiong Huang; Renlai Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108409

Altered local gyrification index and corresponding resting-state functional connectivity in individuals with high test anxiety

Biol Psychol. 2022 Oct:174:108409. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108409. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

Authors

Lulu Hou¹, Wenpei Zhang², Qiong Huang³, Renlai Zhou⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China; Department of Psychology, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
² Department of Psychology, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; School of Business, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243032, China.
³ Department of Brain and Learning Science, School of Biological Science & Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; State Key Laboratory of Media Convergence Production Technology and Systems, Beijing 100803, China. Electronic address: rlzhou@nju.edu.cn.

PMID: 35988834
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108409

Abstract

Previous studies have reported that test anxiety is closely related to unreasonable cognitive patterns and maladaptive emotional responses. However, its underlying brain structural and functional basis has not been thoroughly studied. This study aimed to evaluate the potential difference in local gyration index (LGI) and corresponding resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in individuals with high test anxiety (HTA) compared with low test anxiety (LTA). Twenty-six individuals with HTA and 28 individuals with LTA underwent T1-weighted structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. Using FreeSurfer software, we contrasted the LGI between the HTA and LTA groups using a surface-based general linear model to map group contrasts on a vertex-by-vertex basis. By selecting the cortical regions with significant differences in the LGI analysis as the regions of interest, the seed-based RSFC analysis was further carried out using the Resting-State fMRI Data Analysis Toolkit to examine the differences in the functional connectivity of these cortical regions with the whole brain between the two groups. The results showed that the LGI in several cortical regions of the executive control network (ECN) and the right lateral occipital gyrus was lower in the HTA group than in the LTA group. Furthermore, compared with the LTA group, the HTA group exhibited abnormal RSFC within the ECN, between the ECN and the visual network, and between the ECN and the sensorimotor network. Our findings might provide preliminary evidence for brain morphology and functional alterations in individuals with HTA and contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of TA.

Keywords: Executive control network; Magnetic resonance imaging; Sensorimotor network; Visual network.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain / diagnostic imaging
Brain Mapping* / methods
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Test Anxiety*