Increased Anxiety After Stimulation of the Right Inferior Parietal Lobe and the Left Orbitofrontal Cortex
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15519877 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matthias Grieder (0000-0002-5124-5302, University of Bern, corresponding author), Philipp Homan (0000-0001-9034-148X, Northwell Health), Andrea Federspiel (0000-0003-3211-2675, University of Bern), Claus Kiefer (0000-0001-6163-9519, University Hospital of Bern), Gregor Hasler (0000-0002-8311-0138, University of Fribourg) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Pages | 375-375 |
| Publication date | 2020-05-05 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00375 |
| PMID | 32431631 |
| OpenAlex | W3022915913 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 48 |
Sustained anxiety is a key symptom of anxiety disorders and may be associated with neural activation in the right inferior parietal lobe (rIPL), particularly under unpredictable threat. This finding suggests a moderating role of the rIPL in sustained anxiety, which we tested in the current study. We applied cathodal or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the rIPL as a symptom provocation method in 22 healthy participants in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study, prior to two recordings of cerebral blood flow (CBF). In between, we applied a threat-of-shock paradigm with three conditions: unpredictable (U), predictable (P), or no electric shocks (N). We hypothesized increased anxiety under U, but not under P or N. Furthermore, we expected reduced CBF in the rIPL after tDCS compared to sham. As predicted, anxiety was higher in the U than the P and N conditions, and active tDCS augmented this effect. While tDCS did not alter CBF in the rIPL, it did attenuate the observed increase in brain regions that typically increase activation as a response to anxiety. These findings suggest that the rIPL moderates sustained anxiety as a gateway to brain regions crucial in anxiety. Alternatively, anodal tDCS over the left orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) may have increased anxiety through disruption of OFC-amygdala interactions
Anesthesia · Anxiety · Cerebral blood flow · Cognition · Crossover study · Orbitofrontal cortex · Prefrontal cortex · Psychiatry · Stimulation · Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation · Medicine · Migraine and Headache Studies · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Neuroscience · Psychology · Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies
| Highly cited | No |
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