| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
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| Research Abstract |
We had reported abnormalities of autonomic functions in remitted patients with panic disorder (PD) (Kojima et al., 2002, 2004 ; Shioiri et al., 2004, 2005, 2006). Especially, using the maximum cross-correlation coefficient (ρ max) from the BP to the HR, we indicated the dysfunctions of baroreflex in PD (Shioiri et al., 2004, 2005). The ρ max is an index which can detect the momentary changes in the cardiovascular autonomic system (Shioiri et al., 2004).
Gorman et al. (2000) proposed the neuroanatomical hypothesis of PD (Gorman et al., 2000). They speculate the dysfunction of "fear network" in the brain that is centered in the AMY and involves its interaction with the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex as a pathogenesis of PD (Gorman et al., 2000). Therefore, medications, particularly those that influence the serotonin system, are hypothesized to desensitize the fear network from the level of the AMY through its projects to the hypothalamus and the brainstem. Effective psychosocial treatments may also reduce contextual fear and cognitive misattributions at the level of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.
In this study, we investigated the relationship blood flow (BF) in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and ρ max during stimulating amygdale by disgust slide in 16 patients with PD and age and 17 gender-matched normal controls.
In NC group, there were similarly positive associations between the BF in PFC and the ρ max during both disgust and neutral slides. In PD group, on the other hand, the association became weaker during disgust slide than neutral one. This finding may be a first in vivo demonstration of the cognitive misattributions at the level of the PFC in patients with PD.
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