Fronto-parietal and cerebellar circuits characterise individuals with
higher trait anxiety
Abstract
Anxiety is a diffuse condition ranging from milder manifestations to
severe disorders, impacting individuals’ lives significantly. Specific
sensitive periods such as adolescence and young adulthood are
particularly vulnerable to anxious states, often associated with
psychological traits like impulsivity, aggression, and varying coping
strategies. The goal of the present study is to address the need for a
comprehensive analysis of trait anxiety by employing Parallel ICA, a
data fusion machine learning technique, in a sample of young individuals
divided into a lower anxiety group (n=252) and a higher anxiety group
(n=302), aiming to identify the joint gray-white matter networks
characterizing higher versus lower trait anxiety. Additionally, we aim
to characterize higher anxiety individuals for their usage of
maladaptive coping strategies, and other affective dimensions. In higher
anxious individuals, we identified a fronto-parieto-cerebellar network
with decreased gray matter concentration, linked to bodily awareness and
threat modulation, and a parieto-temporal network with increased white
matter concentration, emphasizing insula and precuneus role. At the
psychological level, we found higher stress, cognitive and motor
impulsivity, and avoidance/emotional coping in higher anxious
individuals. These findings may enhance the understanding of anxiety’s
neural underpinnings in young individuals, supporting early
interventions.