Treatment for social anxiety disorder alters functional connectivity in emotion regulation neural circuitry

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized at a neurobiological level by disrupted activity in emotion regulation neural circuitry. Previous work has demonstrated amygdala hyperreactivity and disrupted prefrontal responses to social cues in individuals with SAD (Kim et al., 2011). While exposure-based psychological treatments effectively reduce SAD symptoms, not all individuals respond to treatment. Better understanding of the neural mechanisms involved offers the potential to improve treatment efficacy.
Source: Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research