Cited by 73Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesFace Recognition and PerceptionNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Are you gonna leave me? Separation anxiety is associated with increased amygdala responsiveness and volume

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Redlich, Ronny, Grotegerd, Dominik, Opel, Nils, Kaufmann, Carolin, Zwitserlood, Pienie, Kugel, Harald, Heindel, Walter, Donges, Uta-Susan +3 more·2015·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

Abstract

The core feature of separation anxiety is excessive distress when faced with actual or perceived separation from people to whom the individual has a strong emotional attachment. So far little is known about the neurobiological underpinnings of separation anxiety. Therefore, we investigated functional (amygdala responsiveness and functional connectivity during threat-related emotion processing) and structural (grey matter volume) imaging markers associated with separation anxiety as measured with the Relationship Scale Questionnaire in a large sample of healthy adults from the Münster Neuroimaging Cohort (N = 320). We used a robust emotional face-matching task and acquired high-resolution structural images for morphometric analyses using voxel-based morphometry. The main results were positive associations of separation anxiety scores with amygdala reactivity to emotional faces as well as increased amygdala grey matter volumes. A functional connectivity analysis revealed positive associations between separation anxiety and functional coupling of the amygdala with areas involved in visual processes and attention, including several occipital and somatosensory areas. Taken together, the results suggest a higher emotional involvement in subjects with separation anxiety while watching negative facial expressions, and potentially secondary neuro-structural adaptive processes. These results could help to understand and treat (adult) separation anxiety.

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Crossref · 10.1093/scan/nsu055

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  • Greater amygdala volume is linked to more social sensitivity in general rather than specifically to threats.

    “For example, large amygdala volume is positively associated not only with separation anxiety (Redlich et al., 2015) but also with mental state inference (Rice et al., 2014) and social network size and complexity (Bickart et al., 2011, Kanai et al., 2012), including in adolescents (Von der Heide et al., 2014).”

    From Adolescent neurobiological susceptibility to social context (2016) · cites this paper as Redlich et al., 2015

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Authors
Redlich, R., Grotegerd, D., Opel, N., Kaufmann, C., Zwitserlood, P., Kugel, H., Heindel, W., Donges, U.-S., Suslow, T., Arolt, V., & Dannlowski, U.
Affiliations
  • Philipps University of Marburg (DE)
  • University of Münster (DE)
Venue
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
Published
2014-04-20
Volume
10
Issue
2
Pages
278-284
ISSN
  • 1749-5016 (ISSN-L)
  • 1749-5024
OpenAlex
W2119545922
Cited by
73
References
139
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 1
FWCI
12.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
separation anxiety, amygdala, amygdala functional connectivity, emotional face processing, negative facial expressions, attachment, neuroimaging biomarkers, voxel-based morphometry
MeSH terms
Adult, Amygdala, Anxiety, Separation, Emotions, Facial Expression, Family Relations, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Net, Occipital Lobe, Surveys and Questionnaires, Somatosensory Cortex, Cohort Studies, Gray Matter

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