Connectivity between the central executive and salience networks normalizes with exposure-focused CBT in pediatric anxiety.

ABSTRACT: Exposure is considered the most active element of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for pediatric anxiety, and its efficacy is theorized to depend on cognitive control and its supporting neural substrates (e.g., central executive [CEN], salience [SN], and default mode networks [DMN]). However, little work has identified how CBT, or exposure specifically, modulates intrinsic connectivity of these networks. Progress may be limited by heterogeneity in network connectivity in anxiety, which may obscure treatment-related effects in group-averaged analyses. This randomized clinical trial (RCT) leverages person-specific network modeling to test how exposure-focused CBT (EF-CBT) influences resting-state connectivity of cognitive control networks in pediatric anxiety, relative to an active control

SUBMITTER: Diaz DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12870638 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature