Ventromedial and insular cortical volume moderates the relationship between BDNF Val66Met and threat sensitivity.

ABSTRACT: While the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism has been linked to various trauma and anxiety - related psychiatric disorders, limited focus has been on the neural structures that might modulate its relationship with objective measures of threat sensitivity. Therefore, we assessed whether there was an interaction of Val66Met polymorphism with brain area volumes previously associated with anxiety and PTSD, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), insular cortex (IC), and dorsal and ventral anterior cingulate cortices (dACC and vACC), in predicting fear-potentiated psychophysiological response in a clinical sample of Veterans. 110 participants engaged in a fear-potentiated acoustic startle paradigm and provided genetic and imaging data. Fear conditions included no, ambiguous, and high threat

SUBMITTER: Young DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9526516 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature