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. 2021 Oct 1;11(1):502.
doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01622-1.

Cortical and subcortical brain structure in generalized anxiety disorder: findings from 28 research sites in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group

Anita Harrewijn  1 Elise M Cardinale  2 Nynke A Groenewold  3 Janna Marie Bas-Hoogendam  4   5   6 Moji Aghajani  7   8 Kevin Hilbert  9 Narcis Cardoner  10   11   12 Daniel Porta-Casteràs  10   11   12 Savannah Gosnell  13 Ramiro Salas  13 Andrea P Jackowski  14 Pedro M Pan  14 Giovanni A Salum  15 Karina S Blair  16 James R Blair  16 Mira Z Hammoud  17 Mohammed R Milad  17 Katie L Burkhouse  18 K Luan Phan  19 Heidi K Schroeder  20 Jeffrey R Strawn  20 Katja Beesdo-Baum  21 Neda Jahanshad  22 Sophia I Thomopoulos  22 Randy Buckner  23   24 Jared A Nielsen  23   24   25 Jordan W Smoller  24 Jair C Soares  26 Benson Mwangi  26 Mon-Ju Wu  26 Giovana B Zunta-Soares  26 Michal Assaf  27   28 Gretchen J Diefenbach  28   29 Paolo Brambilla  30   31 Eleonora Maggioni  30 David Hofmann  32 Thomas Straube  32 Carmen Andreescu  33 Rachel Berta  33 Erica Tamburo  33 Rebecca B Price  33   34 Gisele G Manfro  35 Federica Agosta  36   37 Elisa Canu  36 Camilla Cividini  36   37 Massimo Filippi  36   37   38   39   40 Milutin Kostić  41   42 Ana Munjiza Jovanovic  41 Bianca A V Alberton  43 Brenda Benson  2 Gabrielle F Freitag  2 Courtney A Filippi  2 Andrea L Gold  44 Ellen Leibenluft  2 Grace V Ringlein  2 Kathryn E Werwath  2 Hannah Zwiebel  2 André Zugman  2 Hans J Grabe  45   46 Sandra Van der Auwera  45   46 Katharina Wittfeld  45   46 Henry Völzke  47 Robin Bülow  48 Nicholas L Balderston  49 Monique Ernst  50 Christian Grillon  50 Lilianne R Mujica-Parodi  51 Helena van Nieuwenhuizen  52 Hugo D Critchley  53 Elena Makovac  54 Matteo Mancini  53 Frances Meeten  55 Cristina Ottaviani  56   57 Tali M Ball  58 Gregory A Fonzo  59 Martin P Paulus  60 Murray B Stein  61 Raquel E Gur  62 Ruben C Gur  62 Antonia N Kaczkurkin  62 Bart Larsen  62 Theodore D Satterthwaite  62 Jennifer Harper  63 Michael Myers  63 Michael T Perino  63 Chad M Sylvester  63 Qiongru Yu  63 Ulrike Lueken  9 Dick J Veltman  7 Paul M Thompson  22 Dan J Stein  64 Nic J A Van der Wee  4   6 Anderson M Winkler #  2 Daniel S Pine #  2
Affiliations

Cortical and subcortical brain structure in generalized anxiety disorder: findings from 28 research sites in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group

Anita Harrewijn et al. Transl Psychiatry. .

Abstract

The goal of this study was to compare brain structure between individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and healthy controls. Previous studies have generated inconsistent findings, possibly due to small sample sizes, or clinical/analytic heterogeneity. To address these concerns, we combined data from 28 research sites worldwide through the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group, using a single, pre-registered mega-analysis. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data from children and adults (5-90 years) were processed using FreeSurfer. The main analysis included the regional and vertex-wise cortical thickness, cortical surface area, and subcortical volume as dependent variables, and GAD, age, age-squared, sex, and their interactions as independent variables. Nuisance variables included IQ, years of education, medication use, comorbidities, and global brain measures. The main analysis (1020 individuals with GAD and 2999 healthy controls) included random slopes per site and random intercepts per scanner. A secondary analysis (1112 individuals with GAD and 3282 healthy controls) included fixed slopes and random intercepts per scanner with the same variables. The main analysis showed no effect of GAD on brain structure, nor interactions involving GAD, age, or sex. The secondary analysis showed increased volume in the right ventral diencephalon in male individuals with GAD compared to male healthy controls, whereas female individuals with GAD did not differ from female healthy controls. This mega-analysis combining worldwide data showed that differences in brain structure related to GAD are small, possibly reflecting heterogeneity or those structural alterations are not a major component of its pathophysiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

PMP has received speakers honoraria from Daiichi Sankyo, Libbs, Sandoz, Novartis, and Abbot. NJ is MPI of a research-related grant from Biogen Inc, for work unrelated to this manuscript. JCS is consultant for PFIZER, SUNOVIAN, SANOFI, JOHNSON & JOHNSON, Livanova, and Boehringer Ingelheim. FA is Section Editor of NeuroImage: Clinical; has received speaker honoraria from Philips, Novartis, and Biogen Idec; and receives or has received research supports from the Italian Ministry of Health, AriSLA (Fondazione Italiana di Ricerca per la SLA), and the European Research Council. EC has received research support from the Italian Ministry of Health. MF is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurology; received compensation for consulting services and/or speaking activities from Biogen Idec, Merck-Serono, Novartis, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries; and receives research support from Biogen Idec, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Roche, Italian Ministry of Health, Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla, and ARiSLA (Fondazione Italiana di Ricerca per la SLA). HJG has received travel grants and speakers honoraria from Fresenius Medical Care, Neuraxpharm, Servier, and Janssen Cilag as well as research funding from Fresenius Medical Care. GAF owns equity in Alto Neuroscience. MPP is an advisor to Spring Care, Inc., a behavioral health startup, he has received royalties for an article about methamphetamine in UpToDate. MBS has in the past 3 years been a consultant for Actelion, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Aptinyx, Bionomics, BioXcel Therapeutics, Clexio, EmpowerPharm, Epivario, GW Pharmaceuticals, Janssen, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Roche/Genentech, and Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals; and has stock options in Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals and Epivario. PMT received partial grant support from Biogen, Inc., for research unrelated to this manuscript; consulted for Kairos Venture Capital, Inc., on projects unrelated to this manuscript. DJS has received research grants and/or consultancy honoraria from Lundbeck and Sun. Material support (for IOL site, led by MA and GJD) was provided by Neuronetics. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Violin plots of the age distribution for all sites in the main analysis.
ABCD Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, BHRCS Brazilian High Risk Cohort Study, CMI-HBN Child Mind Institute Healthy Brain Network, IOL Institute of Living, SDAN Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, SHIP Study of Health in Pomerania, UCSD University of California – San Diego, UPenn University of Pennsylvania, WashU Washington University.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Effect sizes from the main analysis for vertex-wise cortical surface area with the design that included global brain measures as nuisance variables.
None of these was statistically significant.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Effect sizes from the main analysis for vertex-wise cortical thickness with the design that included global brain measures as nuisance variables.
None of these was statistically significant.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. An interaction between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and sex in volume in the right ventral diencephalon was observed; male individuals with GAD showed greater volume (mm3) compared to male healthy controls, whereas there was no difference between the groups for females.
Figure shows data after nuisance variables have been considered (residuals). Average volume of the right ventral diencephalon across individuals with GAD and HC: 3988.6 mm3. Note: Error bars reflect standard error.

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