Abstract
Dispositional anxiety is a stable personality trait that is a key risk factor for internalizing disorders, and understanding the neural correlates of trait anxiety may help us better understand the development of these disorders. Abnormal cortical folding is thought to reflect differences in cortical connectivity occurring during brain development. Therefore, assessing gyrification may advance understanding of cortical development and organization associated with trait anxiety. Previous literature has revealed structural abnormalities in trait anxiety and related disorders, but no study to our knowledge has examined gyrification in trait anxiety. We utilized a relatively novel measure, the local gyrification index (LGI), to explore differences in gyrification as a function of trait anxiety. We obtained structural MRI scans using a 3T magnetic resonance scanner on 113 young adults. Results indicated a negative correlation between trait anxiety and LGI in the left superior parietal cortex, specifically the precuneus, reflecting less cortical complexity among those high on trait anxiety. Our findings suggest that aberrations in cortical gyrification in a key region of the default mode network is a correlate of trait anxiety and may reflect disrupted local parietal connectivity.
Highlights
Dispositional anxiety is a stable personality trait with biological underpinnings [1] that is a risk factor for numerous psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression, and substance use [2,3,4]
To determine whether differences in surface area and cortical thickness accounted for the relationship between local gyrification index (LGI) and trait anxiety, we assessed the relationship between average precuneus LGI and trait anxiety with average surface area and cortical thickness added as covariates
The present study extends these previous findings by suggesting that abnormalities in precuneus cortical folding across these disorders may in part be due to the presence of these abnormalities in dispositional anxiety, a core risk factor that is common to these emotional disorders [2,3,4]
Summary
Dispositional anxiety is a stable personality trait with biological underpinnings [1] that is a risk factor for numerous psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression, and substance use [2,3,4]. Understanding individual differences in brain structure associated with this personality trait has the potential to advance understanding of the etiology of these burdensome disorders. Previous research has shown that trait anxiety and anxiety-related traits are associated with variation in cortical volume and thickness of regions implicated in anxiety-related processes. Trait anxiety and neuroticism have both been linked to reduced thickness in the orbitofrontal cortex [1,5,6]. Behavioral inhibition, a construct similar to trait anxiety, has been associated with decreased gray matter volume in the medial orbitofrontal cortices and the precuneus [7]. The orbitofrontal cortex is important for various cognitive and emotional processes that are thought to be impaired in anxiety, such as extinction learning [8].
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