Authors: Zach Moore, Owen Benzley, Austin Flitton, Frederic Schaper, Jared Nielsen
Mentors: Jared Nielsen
Insitution: Brigham Young University
Objective: Identify neural networks that are associated with panic disorder symptoms through lesion network mapping.
Background: Panic Disorder is a neurological disorder in which one experiences unexpected and reoccurring panic attacks. Panic attacks can be characterized by the following symptoms: trembling, racing heart, excessive fear and worry, weakness, tingly hands, chest pain, or a feeling of unreality. A proposed circuit for panic disorder includes the amygdalofugal pathway, which deals primarily with the amygdala. The lesion network mapping method uses functional connectivity to identify neural networks associated with symptoms arising from brain lesions. This is a benefit compared to previous studies done on panic disorder because it relates brain circuits to symptoms rather than individual regions.
Methods: 21 lesions causing Panic Disorder were found in the literature, traced on a standard template, and analyzed using lesion network mapping. Specifically, lesion networks for each lesion were calculated using a large cohort of healthy control resting state scans (N = 1000). In our sensitivity analysis, overlap between lesion networks was observed.
Results: Of the 21 lesion networks, 14 (67%) positively overlap on the parahippocampal gyrus in the sensitivity map; 13 (62%) positively overlap at the ventral tegmental area in the sensitivity map.
Discussion: Symptoms of panic disorder may be associated with the parahippocampal gyrus and ventral tegmental area of the brain. These results found are unique compared to previous studies, but do have general connections.