Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Jan 2013)

Functional magnetic resonance imaging during emotion recognition in social anxiety disorder: an activation likelihood meta-analysis

  • Coenraad J Hattingh,
  • Jonathan eIpser,
  • Sean eTromp,
  • Supriya eSyal,
  • Christine eLochner,
  • Samantha Jane Brooks,
  • Dan J Stein

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00347
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6

Abstract

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Background:Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterised by abnormal fear and anxiety in social situations. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a brain imaging technique that can be used to illustrate neural activation to emotionally salient stimuli. However, no attempt has yet been made to statistically collate fMRI studies of brain activation, using the activation likelihood-estimate technique, in response to emotion recognition tasks in individuals with social anxiety disorder. Methods:A systematic search of fMRI studies of neural responses to socially emotive cues in SAD and GSP was undertaken. Activation likelihood-estimate (ALE) meta-analysis, a voxel based meta-analytic technique, was used to estimate the most significant activations during emotional recognition. Results: 7 studies were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis, constituting a total of 91 subjects with SAD or GSP, and 93 healthy controls. The most significant areas of activation during emotional recognition versus neutral stimuli in individuals with social anxiety disorder compared to controls were: bilateral amygdala, left medial temporal lobe encompassing the entorhinal cortex, left medial aspect of the inferior temporal lobe encompassing perirhinal cortex and parahippocampus, right anterior cingulate, right globus pallidus, and distal tip of right postcentral gyrus.Conclusion:The results are consistent with neuroanatomic models of the role of the amygdala in fear conditioning, and the importance of the limbic circuitry in mediating anxiety symptoms.

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