Chinese scientists from Manyang Normal University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology found that anxiety negatively affects the cognitive control network in the human brain. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Psychophysiology.
Characterized by feelings of anxiety, irrational fear, and helplessness, the disorder is often accompanied by depression and affects millions of people worldwide, affecting daily activities.
The experiment involved 366 participants. They were divided into three groups according to their anxiety levels: healthy people, mildly anxious people, and highly anxious people.
To measure brain activity, scientists used a technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy, which uses light reflected from neural activity to track changes in blood oxygen levels in the brain.
Participants completed a verbal fluency task (VFT), which involved producing words based on given cues and activating brain regions involved in cognitive control.
The study found significant differences in brain activity between the groups. Specifically, a negative correlation was observed between anxiety severity and activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) and left frontal eye fields (lFEF). In other words, people with higher levels of anxiety showed lower activity in these regions during VFT.
Participants with high anxiety showed significantly lower activation in the rDLPFC compared to healthy controls. The mean oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration, which indicates brain activity, was 0.047 in the main anxiety group compared to 0.896 in the control group. Similar results were seen in lFEF, with the high anxiety group showing a mean oxy-Hb concentration of -1.255 compared to 0.601 in the control group.
The results suggest that reduced activity in these brain regions may be a neural marker of severe anxiety disorders. The cognitive control network, which includes the rDLPFC and lFEF, is essential for regulating thoughts and emotions. Dysfunction in this network may contribute to anxiety symptoms, such as an inability to control unrealistic worries.
The study’s findings are consistent with previous studies and provide more definitive evidence distinguishing anxiety from depression, the researchers said.
Previous researchers defined Six unique biotypes of depression and selected treatments for three of them.
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Source: Gazeta
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