Abnormal hubs in global network as potential neuroimaging marker in generalized anxiety disorder at rest

Lili Meng; Yuandong Zhang; Hang Lin; Jingping Mu; Heng Liao; Runlan Wang; Shufen Jiao; Zilong Ma; Zhuangzhuang Miao; Wei Jiang; Xi Wang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1075636

Abnormal hubs in global network as potential neuroimaging marker in generalized anxiety disorder at rest

Front Psychol. 2022 Dec 16:13:1075636. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1075636. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Lili Meng^{1

2}, Yuandong Zhang³, Hang Lin³, Jingping Mu⁴, Heng Liao⁴, Runlan Wang^{1

2}, Shufen Jiao^{1

2}, Zilong Ma^{1

2}, Zhuangzhuang Miao⁵, Wei Jiang⁵, Xi Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, China.
² Department of Sleep, Wuhan Hospital for Psychotherapy, Wuhan, China.
³ Clinical College, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Mental Health, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China.
⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

Background: Mounting studies have reported altered neuroimaging features in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, little is known about changes in degree centrality (DC) as an effective diagnostic method for GAD. Therefore, we aimed to explore the abnormality of DCs and whether these features can be used in the diagnosis of GAD.

Methods: Forty-one GAD patients and 45 healthy controls participated in the study. Imaging data were analyzed using DC and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methods.

Results: Compared with the control group, increased DC values in bilateral cerebellum and left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and decreased DC values in the left medial frontal orbital gyrus (MFOG), fusiform gyrus (FG), and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). The ROC results showed that the DC value of the left MTG could serve as a potential neuroimaging marker with high sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing patients from healthy controls.

Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that abnormal DCs in the left MTG can be observed in GAD, highlighting the importance of GAD pathophysiology.

Keywords: degree centrality; generalized anxiety disorder; magnetic resonance imaging; middle temporal gyrus; receiver operating characteristic.