Social anxiety is associated with BNST response to unpredictability.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent and cause substantial suffering and impairment. Whereas the amygdala has well-established contributions to anxiety, evidence from rodent and nonhuman primate models suggests that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) may play a critical, and possibly distinct, role in human anxiety disorders. The BNST mediates hypervigilance and anticipatory anxiety in response to an unpredictable or ambiguous threat, core symptoms of social anxiety, yet little is known about the BNST's role in social anxiety.

Methods

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure neural responses during a cued anticipation task with an unpredictable, predictable threat, and predictable neutral cues followed by threat or neutral images. So

SUBMITTER: Clauss JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6679811 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature