The cerebral neurobiology of anxiety, anxiety displacement, and anxiety denial

Background: Previous studies examining the relationship of anxiety scores, derived from the content analysis of speech of normal individuals, have rev ealed that the anxiety scores occurring in the dreams associated with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep are significantly correlated with localized cereb ral glucose metabolic rates assessed by positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. These significant intercorrelations occur in different cerebral a reas when the anxiety scores are obtained from mental experiences reported during non-REM sleep or during wakeful silent mentation. Objective: The pur pose of the present study was to examine the intercorrelations found betwee n anxiety attributed to the self, anxiety-displacement, and anxiety denial measured from computerized content analysis of 5-min verbal reports of subj ective thoughts and feelings obtained from wakeful normal subjects and loca lized cerebral glucose metabolic rates during PET scanning. Methods: The su bjects were 10 wakeful young males. Their anxiety scores were derived from computerized content analysis of 5-min reports they gave of their subjectiv e thoughts, feelings and fantasies during a 30-min period following an intr avenous injection of F D-deoxyglucose (FDG). The subjects were moved 32-45 min after this injection to obtain a PET scan, which records all of the loc alized cerebral glucose metabolic rates during the 30 min following the FDG injection. Results: Significant intercorrelations of localized cerebral gl ucose metabolic rates with the scores of self-anxiety, anxiety displacement , and anxiety-denial were found in dissimilar cerebral locations depending on the type of anxiety involved. The significant correlations occurred in b rain regions known to be associated with the functions of emotions, cogniti on, memory, and vision. Conclusions: Specific combinations of cerebral area s, based on glucose metabolic rates, appear to distinguish and be associate d with different verbal expressions of anxiety. Replication of this prelimi nary research will be carried out. Copyright (C) 2001, Karger AG, Basel.