Association between brain functional state indices and eye movement features in patients with anxiety disorders: a cross-sectional study

This study systematically examined the differences in brain functional states and eye movement performance among patients with anxiety disorder and explored their associations using real-world data. A total of 195 patients with anxiety disorders were enrolled between January 2023 and June 2024. Psychological assessments included SAS (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale) and PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) instruments. Brain functional indices and eye movement parameters (prosaccade task, antisaccade task and smooth-pursuit task) were collected. Group comparisons, correlation analyses, and logistic regression models were employed to evaluate the contributions and predictive performance of these markers. Patients showed significantly lower Brain Inhibition, Stability, and Emptying Indices, and higher Emotion Resistance and Anxiety Tendency Indices. Eye movement tests revealed prolonged latencies and completion times in prosaccade and antisaccade tasks. Significant correlations were observed between brain functional state indices and eye movement performance. The eye-movement-based model yielded a higher area under the curve (AUC) (0.895) than the brain-function-based model (AUC = 0.621). Combined brain functional and eye movement indices may serve as objective, adjunctive measures for the assessment of anxiety disorders, reflecting underlying neural dysregulation. Not applicable.