No abstract available.
Panic Disorder* ; Panic*

Sleep disturbance is a one of common complaints among patients with panic disorder. However, clinicians and researchers did not give much attention to the sleep symptoms of panic disorder yet. Several previous studies suggested that the sleep disturbance in panic disorder is mediated by nocturnal panic attack. In terms of the pathophysiology of panic disorder, nocturnal panic attack seems to be closely associated with the sleep problems in panic disorder. In this article, the authors reviewed various previous studies about sleep of panic disorder and intended to give importance of evaluating sleep disturbances and nocturnal panic attack in panic disorder for both clinical and research purpose.
Humans ; Panic ; Panic Disorder

No abstract available.
Panic Disorder ; Panic

The therapeutic effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy(CBT) for panic disorder and agoraphobia (PD/PDA) has been supported by evidences from the several studies. We the have experienced good results of CBT for more than 50 patients with PD/PDA for last two years. In spite of the powerful therapeutic effect, CBT has not been utilized well by psychiatrists in this country. We described the cognitive conceptualization of panic and agoraphobia, fiequently used assessments and homeworks in CBT for PD/PDA, and detailed concepts and methods of the each component of CBT based on our experience. Also, we discussed the comparative studies of the therapeutic results and factors that could influence the effect of CBT for PD/PDA.
Agoraphobia ; Humans ; Panic Disorder* ; Panic* ; Psychiatry

No abstract available.
Anxiety Disorders* ; Anxiety* ; Panic Disorder* ; Panic*

OBJECTIVES: It is increasingly thought that the human cerebellum plays an important role in emotion and cognition. Although recent evidence suggests that the cerebellum may also be implicated in fear learning, only a limited number of studies have investigated the cerebellar abnormalities in panic disorder. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cerebellar gray matter deficits and their clinical correlations among patients with panic disorder. METHODS: Using a voxel-based morphometry approach with a high-resolution spatially unbiased infratentorial template, regional cerebellar gray matter density was compared between 23 patients with panic disorder and 33 healthy individuals. RESULTS: The gray matter density in the right posterior-superior (lobule Crus I) and left posterior-inferior (lobules Crus II, VIIb, VIIIa) cerebellum was significantly reduced in the panic disorder group compared to healthy individuals (p < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected, extent threshold = 100 voxels). Additionally, the gray matter reduction in the left posterior-inferior cerebellum (lobule VIIIa) was significantly associated with greater panic symptom severity (r = -0.55, p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the gray matter deficits in the posterior cerebellum may be involved in the pathogenesis of panic disorder. Further studies are needed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the cerebro-cerebellar network in panic disorder.
Cerebellum* ; Cognition ; Humans ; Learning ; Panic ; Panic Disorder*

OBJECTIVES: Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of anxiety-related sensations based on beliefs about their harmful consequences. Despite its status as the most popular measure of AS, the anxiety sensitivity index is too abbreviated to adequately measure the somatic, cognitive, and social factor. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised (ASI-R) is a revised and expanded version of the ASI that was developed to improve the assessment of AS and its dimensions. The present study was conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the Expanded Anxiety Sensitivity Index. METHODS: Five hundred sixty six community samples and 77 patients with panic disorders were enrolled in this study. All subjects completed a psychometric assessment package which included the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), ASI-R, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait (STAI-T). RESULTS: 1) ASI-R showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=.93). 2) ASI-R demonstrated high test-retest reliabilities (r=.82). 3) Moderate correlations were observed among ASI-R, BDI (r=.50), STAI-T (r=.41), and BAI (r=.67). 4) An exploratory factor analysis revealed four ASI-R factors. 5) Panic patients had significantly higher ASI-R scores than the community samples (t=7.787, p<.01). CONCLUSION: We found that ASI-R and its subscales had valuable internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and construct validity. These results suggest that ASI-R is a reliable and valid measuring tool of anxiety sensitivity.
Anxiety* ; Depression ; Humans ; Panic ; Panic Disorder ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensation

We aimed to investigate whether agoraphobia (A) in panic disorder (PD) has any effects on oxidative and anti-oxidative parameters. We measured total antioxidant capacity (TAC), paraoxonase (PON), arylesterase (ARE) antioxidant and malondialdehyde (MDA) oxidant levels using blood samples from a total of 31 PD patients with A, 22 PD patients without A and 53 control group subjects. There was a significant difference between the TAC, PON, ARE and MDA levels of the three groups consisting of PD with A, PD without A and the control group. The two-way comparison to clarify the group creating the difference showed that the TAC, PON, and ARE antioxidants were significantly lower in the PD with A group compared to the control group while the MDA oxidant was significantly higher. There was no significant difference between the PD without A and control groups for TAC, PON, ARE and MDA levels. We clearly demonstrated that the oxidative stress and damage to the anti-oxidative mechanism are significantly higher in the PD group with A. These findings suggest that oxidative/anti-oxidative mechanisms may play a more important role on the pathogenesis of PB with A.
Agoraphobia* ; Antioxidants ; Aryldialkylphosphatase ; Humans ; Malondialdehyde ; Oxidative Stress* ; Panic Disorder* ; Panic*

PURPOSE: Recent neuroimaging findings have revealed that paralimbic and prefrontal regions are involved in panic disorder (PD). However, no imaging studies have compared differences in cortical thickness between patients with PD and healthy control (HC) subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-seven right-handed patients with PD who met the diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-4th edition-text revision, and 30 HC subjects were enrolled. We used the FreeSurfer software package for estimating the cortical thickness of regions of interest, including the temporal pole, insula, and pars triangularis (mid-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex). RESULTS: Cortical thickness of the temporal pole (p=0.033, right), insula (p=0.017, left), and pars triangularis (p=0.008, left; p=0.025, right) in patients with PD was significantly lower, compared with HC subjects (Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction). Exploratory analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the cortical thickness of the right temporal pole and Beck Depression Inventory scores (r=-0.333, p=0.027) in patients with PD and positive correlations between the cortical thickness of the left pars triangularis and Panic Disorder Severity Scale (r=0.429, p=0.004), Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised (r=0.380, p=0.011), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (r=0.421, p=0.004) scores using Pearson's correlation. CONCLUSION: Ours study is the first to demonstrate cortical thickness reduction in the temporal pole, insula, and pars triangularis in patients with PD, compared with the HC subjects. These findings suggest that reduced cortical thickness could play an important role in the pathophysiology of PD.
Anxiety ; Broca Area* ; Depression ; Humans ; Neuroimaging ; Panic Disorder* ; Panic*

OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we measured hippocampal N-acetyl-l-aspartate (NAA), choline (CHO) and creatine (CRE) values in patients with panic disorder and healthy control subjects using in vivo 1H MRS. METHODS: We scanned 20 patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) criteria for panic disorder and 20 matched healthy controls with a 1.5 Tesla GE Signa Imaging System and measured of NAA, CHO, and CRE in hippocampal regions. RESULTS: When NAA, CHO and CRE values were compared between groups, statistically significant lower levels for all ones were detected for both sides. CONCLUSION: Consequently, in the present study we found that NAA, CHO and CRE values of the patients with panic disorder were lower than those healthy controls. Future studies involving a large number of panic patients may shed further light on the generalizability of the current findings to persons with panic disorder.
Aspartic Acid ; Choline ; Creatine ; Humans ; Light ; Panic ; Panic Disorder