Fronto-lateral alpha power asymmetry in panic disorder

Lars Thoma; Kristin Koller-Schlaud; Katharina Gaudlitz; Nicole Tänzer; Jürgen Gallinat; Norbert Kathmann; Andreas Ströhle; Johannes Rentzsch; Jens Plag

doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.06.015

Fronto-lateral alpha power asymmetry in panic disorder

Int J Psychophysiol. 2021 Sep:167:69-76. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.06.015. Epub 2021 Jul 2.

Authors

Lars Thoma¹, Kristin Koller-Schlaud², Katharina Gaudlitz³, Nicole Tänzer³, Jürgen Gallinat⁴, Norbert Kathmann⁵, Andreas Ströhle³, Johannes Rentzsch², Jens Plag³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Mitte, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: lars.thoma@hu-berlin.de.
² Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Mitte, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Neuruppin, Germany.
³ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Mitte, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

PMID: 34224782
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.06.015

Abstract

Resting state alpha power asymmetry in frontal and temporal regions has been reported in various clinical populations, possibly indicating deficits in prefrontal control. In panic disorder (PD), results regarding alpha asymmetric activity to date have been mixed. This study compared 55 PD patients and 42 healthy controls (HC) with regards to resting state alpha power asymmetry. Our results show more right-than-left fronto-lateral alpha power in PD, whereas at other sites and in HC no significant differences were detected. These results support the notion of altered neurobiological processes in PD that possibly represent a vulnerability to the experience of panic attacks. Further studies are needed to clarify potential causal implications of this finding in the genesis of PD, as well as to specify the functional significance of fronto-lateral alpha power asymmetry in PD.

Keywords: Alpha asymmetry; Anxiety disorders; Electroencephalography (EEG); Panic disorder; Resting state.

MeSH terms

Electroencephalography
Humans
Panic Disorder*
Temporal Lobe