Abstract #3224

Brain Activation Associated with the Anxiety-Inducing Distractor in Working Memory Maintenance in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Chung-Man Moon¹, Moo-Suk Lee², Heoung-Keun Kang³, Jong-Chul Yang⁴, Gwang-Woo Jeong¹,³

¹Interdisciplinary Program of Biomedical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea; ²Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea; ³Radiology, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea; ⁴Psychiatry, Chonbuk National Universty Hosptal, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, Korea

General anxiety disorder (GAD) affects cognitive function in combination with the process and regulation of emotion. In general, patients with GAD have more difficulty in identifying their own emotions and understanding of emotional experience as compared with healthy controls. Recent studies have investigated the neural activation associated with cognitive processing in response to visual stimulation with facial images in health controls and patients with GAD, and revealed that the cognitive function of facial expression in patients with GAD was impaired.