Alterations of Cortical Thickness in High Suicidality Patients with Panic Disorder and Their Relationship with Symptomatology and Treatment Response
10.9758/cpn.25.1329
- Author:
Ji-Yoon HAM
;
Hyun-Ju KIM
;
Yeong-Geon HWANG
;
Tai-Kiu CHOI
;
Ji-Eun KIM
;
Sang-Hyuk LEE
- Publication Type:Original Article
- From:Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience
2026;24(1):93-105
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Objective:Patients with panic disorder (PD) are approximately four times more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and attempts compared to healthy controls (HCs). Despite the elevated risk compared to HCs, the relationship between cortical thickness (CT) in PD and suicidality remains underexplored.
Methods:We recruited 161 right-handed participants, including 82 PD patients and 79 HCs, and assessed them using a comprehensive battery of psychological scales, including the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI), Early Trauma Inventory Self Report-Short Form, Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory-Neuroticism (NEO-N), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Anxiety (STAI-T), Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS), and Beck Depression Inventory.
Results:In whole-brain vertex-wise group comparison, patients with PD demonstrated significantly lower CT values in the insula, lateral occipital sulcus, and precentral gyrus compared to HCs. Notably, paradoxical significant positive correlations were observed between SSI total scores and CT in the above-mentioned regions within the PD cohort.Pearson’s correlation analyses further indicated that CT in these regions may be linked to high levels of early trauma, trait anxiety (e.g., NEO-N, STAI-T), panic symptom severity (e.g., PDSS), and treatment response in patients with PD.
Conclusion:This study suggest that suicidality in PD may be associated with CT in specific EFN regions related to suicidal brain and that CT in these regions could play a critical role in anxiety symptomatology in PD.
