A-175 Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Self-Reported Anxiety in Adults versus Children

Abstract

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study is to identify regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) differences between children and adults with high levels of self-reported anxiety. Method: Subjects were selected from two independent clinical outpatient databases for child and adult SPECT scans. Scores were standardized to T scores for each database. The highest 20% of self-reported anxiety was selected from each database. The final sample consisted of 3226 Adults [Mage=37.78, majority-white (68.7%) and male (54.7%)] and 545 children [Mage=13.58, majority-white (48.6%) and male (59.3%)] Significant differences existed between groups for gender and race. An ANCOVA was utilized to test the difference in concentration rCBF between adults and children controlling for these t covariates. Results: Groups were compared across 17 variables representing different areas of the brain (p<.05). Children had significantly higher rCBF than adults in the limbic [left: F(1,3767)=15.893, p<.001 and right: F(1,3767)=48.699, p<.001], basal ganglia [left: F(1,3767)=30.138, p<.001 and right: F(1,3767)=61.191, p<.001], frontal [left: F(1,3767)=142.244, p<.001 and right: F(1,3767)=112.273, p<.001], motor sensory right F(1,3767)=679.063, p=.008, and vermis F(1,3767)=50.025, p<.001 regions. Adults had significantly higher rCBF than children in the parietal regions [left: F(1,3767)=42.235, p<.001 and right: F(1,3767)=82.708, p<.001]. Discussion: There are significant differences in rCBF between children and adults with high self-reported levels of anxiety. This indicates that different neuronal mechanisms in adults and children are involved when experiencing high levels of anxiety. These findings can help clinicians better understand differences in how anxiety is expressed neurologically between children and adults.