Neural Mechanisms Underlying Attention Control In Relation To Anxiety And Depressive Symptoms

Poor attention control has been implicated in the development of anxiety and depression-related disorders and it is a key diagnostic criterion. This study aims to understand the possible neural mechanisms behind this. 191 German participants aged 20-80 were assessed on their level of attention control, depression and anxiety as part of the Leipzig Study for Mind-Body-Emotion Interactions. Network-based statistics were applied to their resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) data to identify networks positively and negatively associated with attention control. Mediation analyses were then performed with these two networks as mediators. Attention control correlated negatively with both anxiety and depression. The frontoparietal- or dorsal attention-somatomotor connections featured prominently in the attention control-positive network (ACPN). This network correlated positively with attention control, and negatively with both anxiety and depression. The attention control-negative network (ACNN) was largely represented by the ventral attention- or dorsal attention-visual connections. The ACPN was a significant and partial mediator between attention control and anxiety and a complete mediator for the relationship between attention control and depression. These findings could prove useful as neuroeducation in anxiety- and depression-related disorders, and as evidence for attention-based therapy.