The right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex may play a role in anxiety disorder and visual function

Abstract

Recent investigation suggests that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in the interplay between cognition and emotion. The present study described three patients who underwent removal of brain tumors just above the right dorsal ACC. These patients had residual tumor following surgery and showed anxiety disorder (AD) both before and after surgery. Visual memory or attention was abnormal before surgery in these patients, but these deficits improved following surgery, possibly due to a decrease in compression of the right dorsal ACC. These results suggest that damage to the right dorsal ACC is involved in AD and well as in deficits in visual memory or attention. Therefore, the right dorsal ACC might play a role in vision-related cognition and emotion, such as anxiety.

Keywords:

• Anterior cingulate cortex
• Anxiety disorder
• Awake surgery
• Brain tumor
• Visual attention
• Visual memory

This work was supported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital Foundation.