@article{ref1,
title="The Relationship between Fearfulness, GABA+, and Fear-Related BOLD Responses in the Insula",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2015",
author="Lipp, Ilona and Evans, C. John and Lewis, Caroline and Murphy, Kevin and Wise, Richard G. and Caseras, Xavier",
volume="10",
number="3",
pages="e0120101-e0120101",
abstract="The inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA plays a crucial role in anxiety and fear, but its relationship to brain activation during fear reactions is not clear. Previous studies suggest that GABA agonists lead to an attenuation of emotion-processing related BOLD signals in the insula. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between GABA concentration and fear-related BOLD responses in this region. In 44 female participants with different levels of fearfulness, GABA concentration in the left insula was measured using a GABA+ MRS acquisition during rest; additionally, BOLD signals were obtained during performance of a fear provocation paradigm. Fearfulness was not associated with GABA+ in the left insula, but could predict fear-related BOLD responses in a cluster in the left anterior insula. The BOLD signal change in this cluster did not correlate with GABA+ concentration. However, we found a significant positive correlation between GABA+ concentration and fear-related BOLD responses in a different cluster that included parts of the left insula, amygdala and putamen. Our findings indicate that low insular GABA concentration is not a predisposition for fearfulness, and that several factors influence whether a correlation between GABA and BOLD can be found.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0120101",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120101"
}