@article{BuffBrinkmannBruchmannetal.2017,
  author    = {Buff, Christine and Brinkmann, Leonie and Bruchmann, Maximilian and Becker, Michael P.I. and Tupak, Sara and Herrmann, Martin J. and Straube, Thomas},
  title     = {Activity alterations in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and amygdala during threat anticipation in generalized anxiety disorder},
  series = {Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience},
  number    = {11},
  doi       = {10.1093/scan/nsx103},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-173298},
  pages     = {1766-1774},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Sustained anticipatory anxiety is central to Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). During anticipatory anxiety, phasic threat responding appears to be mediated by the amygdala, while sustained threat responding seems related to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Although sustained anticipatory anxiety in GAD patients was proposed to be associated with BNST activity alterations, firm evidence is lacking. We aimed to explore temporal characteristics of BNST and amygdala activity during threat anticipation in GAD patients. Nineteen GAD patients and nineteen healthy controls (HC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a temporally unpredictable threat anticipation paradigm. We defined phasic and a systematic variation of sustained response models for blood oxygen level-dependent responses during threat anticipation, to disentangle temporally dissociable involvement of the BNST and the amygdala. GAD patients relative to HC responded with increased phasic amygdala activity to onset of threat anticipation and with elevated sustained BNST activity that was delayed relative to the onset of threat anticipation. Both the amygdala and the BNST displayed altered responses during threat anticipation in GAD patients, albeit with different time courses. The results for the BNST activation hint towards its role in sustained threat responding, and contribute to a deeper understanding of pathological sustained anticipatory anxiety in GAD.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BiehlMerzDresleretal.2016,
  author    = {Biehl, Stefanie C. and Merz, Christian J. and Dresler, Thomas and Heupel, Julia and Reichert, Susanne and Jacob, Christian P. and Deckert, J{\"u}rgen and Herrmann, Martin J.},
  title     = {Increase or Decrease of fMRI Activity in Adult Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder: Does It Depend on Task Difficulty?},
  series = {International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology},
  volume    = {19},
  journal   = {International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology},
  number    = {10},
  doi       = {10.1093/ijnp/pyw049},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147551},
  pages     = {pyw049},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Background: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder has been shown to affect working memory, and fMRI studies in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder report hypoactivation in task-related attentional networks. However, studies with adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients addressing this issue as well as the effects of clinically valid methylphenidate treatment are scarce. This study contributes to closing this gap. Methods: Thirty-five adult patients were randomized to 6 weeks of double-blind placebo or methylphenidate treatment. Patients completed an fMRI n-back working memory task both before and after the assigned treatment, and matched healthy controls were tested and compared to the untreated patients. Results: There were no whole-brain differences between any of the groups. However, when specified regions of interest were investigated, the patient group showed enhanced BOLD responses in dorsal and ventral areas before treatment. This increase was correlated with performance across all participants and with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in the patient group. Furthermore, we found an effect of treatment in the right superior frontal gyrus, with methylphenidate-treated patients exhibiting increased activation, which was absent in the placebo-treated patients. Conclusions: Our results indicate distinct activation differences between untreated adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients and matched healthy controls during a working memory task. These differences might reflect compensatory efforts by the patients, who are performing at the same level as the healthy controls. We furthermore found a positive effect of methylphenidate on the activation of a frontal region of interest. These observations contribute to a more thorough understanding of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and provide impulses for the evaluation of therapy-related changes.},
  language  = {en}
}