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Cited by 119Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPosttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchMemory and Neural Mechanisms

CORTICO-LIMBIC RESPONSES TO MASKED AFFECTIVE FACES ACROSS PTSD, PANIC DISORDER, AND SPECIFIC PHOBIA: Research Article: Neurocircuitry of Anxiety Disorders

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Killgore, William D. S., Britton, Jennifer C., Schwab, Zachary J., Price, Lauren M., Weiner, Melissa R., Gold, Andrea L., Rosso, Isabelle M., Simon, Naomi M. +2 more·2014·Depression and Anxiety
DOI 10.1002/da.22156PMC PMC4593618
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Exaggerated amygdala and reduced ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) responsiveness during emotional processing have been reported in studies examining individual anxiety disorders. Studies are needed, however, which directly compare activation of amygdalo-cortical circuitry across multiple anxiety disorders within the same study. Here we compared cortico-limbic neurocircuitry across three different anxiety disorders using a well-validated emotional probe task. METHODS: Sixty-five adult volunteers, including 22 healthy controls (HC) and participants meeting DSM-IV criteria for either posttraumatic stress disorder (14 PTSD), panic disorder (14 PD), or specific animal phobia (15 SP), underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 T while passively viewing backward-masked images of faces expressing fear, happy, and neutral emotions. RESULTS: A group comprising all three anxiety disorders showed greater activation within the left amygdala and reduced activation within the vmPFC compared to the HC group during the masked fear versus neutral condition. Pairwise group comparisons showed that amygdala activation only reached significance for the PTSD versus HCs, whereas decreased vmPFC was only evident for SP and PD groups versus the HC group. Furthermore, activation did not differ among the anxiety groups when contrasted directly with one another. A similar pattern was observed for masked happy versus neutral faces. CONCLUSIONS: Exclusive of specific diagnostic category, anxiety disorders were generally associated with increased activation of the amygdala and reduced activation within vmPFC. Categorical distinctions were generally weak or not observed and suggest that functional differences may reflect the magnitude of responses within a common neurocircuitry across disorders rather than activation of distinct systems.

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  • Amygdala activation in response to threatening stimuli is increased in PTSD, GAD, social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, and PD.

    “Specifically, amygdala activation in response to threatening stimuli is increased in PTSD, GAD, social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, and PD (Fonzo et al, 2015;Killgore et al, 2014;Monk et al, 2008).”

    From Inflammation in Fear- and Anxiety-Based Disorders: PTSD, GAD, and Beyond (2017) · cites this paper as Killgore et al, 2014

    The Results (page not provided) report greater amygdala activation to masked fearful versus neutral faces for the three anxiety disorders combined, with a significant individual comparison for PTSD. The Discussion describes prior evidence for social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, and panic disorder, but says GAD was not included and discusses it only speculatively. The paper therefore does not establish the claim for every disorder listed. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  • Killgore et al. used a masked emotional probe task and found that patients with anxiety or PTSD showed greater amygdala and reduced vmPFC activation compared to controls during masked fearful faces.

    “For example, Killgore et al. [162] used a masked emotional probe task and compared adults with anxiety or PTSD to healthy controls. Patients (all groups combined) showed greater amygdala and reduced vmPFC activation compared to controls during the masked fearful faces.”

    From Prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and threat processing: implications for PTSD (2022) · cites this paper as [162]

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [14]First MB Spitzer RL Gibbon M Williams JBW Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders, Research Version, Patient Edition. (SCID-I/P) New York Biometrics Research Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute 2002

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Authors
Killgore, W. D. S., Britton, J. C., Schwab, Z. J., Price, L. M., Weiner, M. R., Gold, A. L., Rosso, I. M., Simon, N. M., Pollack, M. H., & Rauch, S. L.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • University of Miami (US)
  • University of Massachusetts Boston (US)
  • Yale University (US)
  • Rush University Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Killgore, William D. S.
ORCID
Venue
Depression and Anxiety
Publisher
Hindawi Limited
Published
2013-07-16
Volume
31
Issue
2
Pages
150-159
ISSN
1091-4269 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1002/da.22156
PMC
PMC4593618
OpenAlex
W1488935064
Cited by
119
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 8
FWCI
12.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1.1 (tdm, 777 d)
Locations
  • Depression and Anxiety (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH070730)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, specific phobia, anxiety disorders, amygdala, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, fearful faces, emotional face processing
MeSH terms
Adult, Amygdala, Anxiety Disorders, Brain, Brain Mapping, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Phobic Disorders, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Panic Disorder, Prefrontal Cortex

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