Hyperactive visual brain network linked to subclinical social anxiety in young adults
Mar 5th 2026
A resting-state MRI study led by Fangfang Huang found heightened visual cortex activity, altered connectivity with frontal and sensory regions, and a mediating role for reduced visual gray matter in young adults reporting subclinical social anxiety.
- Resting-state fMRI showed increased spontaneous activity in the left superior occipital gyrus in young adults with subclinical social anxiety.
- The visual region displayed stronger functional connectivity with the right inferior frontal gyrus.
- Effective connectivity analyses found reduced outgoing signals from the visual region to the postcentral gyrus and increased incoming signals from the postcentral gyrus and precuneus to the visual region.
- Smaller gray matter volume in the visual area was associated with its heightened activity, which mediated higher anxiety levels.
- The study analyzed 24 anxious and 26 control participants after excluding two scans for motion and was published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.
- Results are correlational and limited by a small, age-homogeneous sample and a cross-sectional design.