This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Scott L. Rauch, MD; Cary R. Savage, PhD; Nathaniel M. Alpert, PhD; Euripedes C. Miguel, MD, PhD; Lee Baer, PhD; Hans C. Breiter, MD; Alan J. Fischman, MD, PhD; Peter A. Manzo; Cara Moretti; Michael A. Jenike, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1995;52(1):20-28.

Abstract
Background
The goal of this study was to determine the mediating neuroanatomy of simple phobic symptoms.

Methods
Positron emission tomography and oxygen 15 were used to measure normalized regional cerebral blood flow in seven subjects with simple phobia during control and provoked states. Stereotactic transformation and statistical parametric mapping techniques were employed to determine the locations of significant activation.

Results
Statistical parametric maps demonstrated significant increases in normalized regional blood flow for the symptomatic state compared with the control state in the anterior cingulate cortex, the insular cortex, the anterior temporal cortex, the somatosensory cortex, the posterior medial orbitofrontal cortex, and the thalamus.

Conclusions
The results suggest that anxiety associated with the simple phobic symptomatic state is mediated by paralimbic structures. Moreover, activation of somatosensory cortex may reflect tactile imagery as one component of the phobic symptomatic condition.

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Psychiatry (Drs Rauch, Savage, Miguel, Baer, Breiter, and Jenike, Mr Manzo, and Ms Moretti) and Radiology (Drs Rauch, Alpert, Breiter, and Fischman) and the Division of Nuclear Medicine/Positron Emission Tomography Laboratory (Drs Rauch, Alpert, and Fischman), Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Involvement of Insula and Cingulate Cortices in Control and Suppression of Natural Urges
Lerner et al.
Cereb Cortex 2009;19:218-223.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Activation and Attentional Bias in Response to Angry Faces in Adolescents With Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Monk et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2006;163:1091-1097.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Comparison of the Effects of Bilateral Orbital Prefrontal Cortex Lesions and Amygdala Lesions on Emotional Responses in Rhesus Monkeys
Izquierdo et al.
J. Neurosci. 2005;25:8534-8542.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Brain Serotonin Transporter Distribution in Subjects With Impulsive Aggressivity: A Positron Emission Study With [11C]McN 5652
Frankle et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2005;162:915-923.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Attenuation of the Neural Response to Sad Faces in Major Depression by Antidepressant Treatment: A Prospective, Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study
Fu et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004;61:877-889.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Distinct Neural Correlates of Washing, Checking, and Hoarding Symptom Dimensions in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
Mataix-Cols et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004;61:564-576.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Neurobiology of Conditioned and Unconditioned Fear: A Neurobehavioral System Analysis of the Amygdala
Rosen
Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev 2004;3:23-41.
ABSTRACT  

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evidence for a Lack of Striatal Dysfunction During Implicit Sequence Learning in Individuals With Animal Phobia
Martis et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2004;161:67-71.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Emerging Dialogue Between Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience: Neuroimaging Perspectives
Beutel et al.
J Am Psychoanal Assoc 2003;51:773-801.
ABSTRACT  

Neuroimaging findings in post-traumatic stress disorder: Systematic review
HULL
Br. J. Psychiatry 2002;181:102-110.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Exacerbation of Pain by Anxiety Is Associated with Activity in a Hippocampal Network
Ploghaus et al.
J. Neurosci. 2001;21:9896-9903.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Activation of Thalamo-Cortical Systems in Post-Traumatic Flashbacks: A Positron Emission Tomography Study
Huber et al.
Traumatology 2001;7:131-141.
ABSTRACT  

Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Response Conflict: Effects of Response Modality and Processing Domain
Barch et al.
Cereb Cortex 2001;11:837-848.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Neural Correlates of Imaginal Aggressive Behavior Assessed by Positron Emission Tomography in Healthy Subjects
Pietrini et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2000;157:1772-1781.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Emotional Responses to Pleasant and Unpleasant Olfactory, Visual, and Auditory Stimuli: a Positron Emission Tomography Study
Royet et al.
J. Neurosci. 2000;20:7752-7759.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effects of Yohimbine on Cerebral Blood Flow, Symptoms, and Physiological Functions in Humans
Cameron et al.
Psychosom. Med. 2000;62:549-559.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Functional Imaging of Memory Retrieval in Deficit vs Nondeficit Schizophrenia
Heckers et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999;56:1117-1123.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

What do brain imaging studies tell us about anxiety disorders?
Malizia
J Psychopharmacol 1999;13:372-378.
ABSTRACT  

Regional Cerebral Blood Flow During Script-Driven Imagery in Childhood Sexual Abuse-Related PTSD: A PET Investigation
Shin et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 1999;156:575-584.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Decreased Brain GABAA-Benzodiazepine Receptor Binding in Panic Disorder: Preliminary Results From a Quantitative PET Study
Malizia et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998;55:715-720.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Neuropsychological Deficits in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: A Comparison With Unipolar Depression, Panic Disorder, and Normal Controls
Purcell et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998;55:415-423.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Century After Freud's Project: Is a Rapprochement Between Psychoanalysis and Neurobiology At Hand?
Schore
J Am Psychoanal Assoc 1997;45:807-840.
ABSTRACT  

Emotion, olfaction, and the human amygdala: Amygdala activation during aversive olfactory stimulation
Zald and Pardo
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1997;94:4119-4124.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Visual Imagery and Perception in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Positron Emission Tomographic Investigation
Shin et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1997;54:233-241.
ABSTRACT  

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Symptom Provocation in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
Breiter et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1996;53:595-606.
ABSTRACT  

A Symptom Provocation Study of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Using Positron Emission Tomography and Script-Driven Imagery
Rauch et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1996;53:380-387.
ABSTRACT  

Anterior Paralimbic Mediation of Procaine-Induced Emotional and Psychosensory Experiences
Ketter et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1996;53:59-69.
ABSTRACT