Neuroimaging links cortical volume networks to symptoms in 58 people with GAD

People with generalized anxiety disorder showed altered organization of cortical volume-based morphological networks compared with healthy controls in a neuroimaging study of 58 drug-free patients and 86 age- and sex-matched controls. Networks constructed separately for each participant had higher local efficiency, normalized clustering coefficient and small-worldness, alongside lower characteristic path length. These model-based differences indicate a reorganization of relationships among cortical regions rather than evidence of improved cognition or brain function.

Researchers built single-subject cortical morphological networks using six measures: cortical thickness, surface area, cortical volume, mean curvature, sulcal depth and local gyrification index. General linear models were used to compare local cortical morphology and network topology between the generalized anxiety disorder and healthy-control groups. The analysis covered 144 participants in total, all of whom were evaluated in the same study, while the network construction allowed each person’s cortical measurements to be represented as a distinct network.

At the regional level, the generalized anxiety disorder group had increased cortical thickness in the left middle temporal gyrus and a decreased local gyrification index in the left superior frontal gyrus. The clearest network-level findings were reported for cortical volume-based networks. Within those networks, local efficiency and normalized clustering coefficient increased, characteristic path length decreased and small-worldness increased. Together, the findings show both focal differences in cortical structure and broader changes in the modeled organization of cortical networks. However, they do not demonstrate that the observed structural differences cause generalized anxiety disorder or its associated symptoms.

Partial correlation analyses within the patient group connected local morphological abnormalities and network properties with illness duration, age of onset, anxiety severity and personality traits. These analyses controlled for age, sex, years of education and intracranial volume. The reported relationships therefore link particular brain features with clinical characteristics, but the group comparison and correlation analyses do not establish temporal sequence, direction of effect or a causal mechanism. The study’s scope is also limited to the measured population, morphological characteristics and network metrics: it does not establish that the differences are unique to generalized anxiety disorder, that cortical volume networks can be used diagnostically, or that changing the network organization would alter symptoms. Published in Translational Psychiatry in 2026, the accepted research offers a detailed account of cortical structural-network abnormalities and their associations with multiple clinical features of the disorder.

Subject of Research: Cortical morphological-network differences associated with symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder

Article Title: Aberrant single-subject cortical morphological networks and their associations with multiple symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder

Article References: Liu, L., Hu, X., Deng, R., Cao, L., Chai, S., Wang, Y., Li, H., Gao, Y., Gong, Q., Qiu, C., & Huang, X. (2026). Aberrant single-subject cortical morphological networks and their associations with multiple symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder. Translational Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-04434-3

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1038/s41398-026-04434-3

Keywords: generalized anxiety disorder, cortical morphology, morphological networks, cortical volume, neuroimaging, network topology, cortical thickness, gyrification, anxiety severity, personality traits, Aberrant, single-subject