Title:What About the Neuroimaging Findings in Social Anxiety Disorder?
Volume: 8
Issue: 2
Author(s): Murad Atmaca
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Social anxiety disorder, neuroimaging, structural, functional, MRI.
Abstract: In the present article, structural, neurochemical and functional neuroimaging investigations performed on patients
with social anxiety disorder were reviewed. A PubMed search was performed to identify all structural and functional
neuroimaging studies published between 1980 and February 2013. The studies and case reports on neuroimaging in
social anxiety disorder were grouped under the subheadings of structural, functional and magnetic resonance spectroscopic
imaging. It seems that structural studies involve examination of abnormalities in the basal ganglia structures like
caudate nucleus, thalamus, and putamen, hippocampus and amygdala abnormalities in summary. Neurochemical investigations
reveal the deficiencies in the GABAergic system and over-activation in the glutamatergic system in social anxiety
disorder. Functional neuroimaging investigations implicate the role of limbic-medial prefrontal circuit.
