Table 2.

Effect of psychotherapy on hemodynamic responses—ROI based approach.

Region		Coordinates			fMRI contrast values			Psychotherapy effect
		x	y	z	h	p1	p2	p2 > p1
All emotions ([“anger”+ “disgust” + “joy” + “neutral”] − “control”)
Right	parahippocampal gyrus	30	54	−3	−0.51 ± 1.77	−5.53 ± 2.25	−4.26 ± 2.60	t(14) = 0.670; p[one-tailed] = 0.257
Left	amygdala	−24	−3	−24	0.50 ± 0.87	−0.59 ± 1.54	−0.27 ± 1.47	t(14) = 0.355; p[one-tailed] = 0.364
Anger (“anger” − “control”)
Left	Postcentral gyrus	−15	39	66	0.60 ± 0.70	−0.83 ± 0.83	0.41 ± 0.84	t(14) = 2.042; p[one-tailed] = 0.030*
Left	Superior temporal gyrus	−33	−15	−27	1.05 ± 0.60	−0.91 ± 1.03	0.23 ± 0.94	t(14) = 1.899; p[one-tailed] = 0.039*
Left	Parahippocampal gyrus	−33	18	−24	0.78 ± 0.60	−0.39 ± 0.52	0.19 ± 0.81	t(14) = 1.914; p[one-tailed] = 0.038*
Right	Parahippocampal gyrus	18	21	−15	1.20 ± 0.91	−0.92 ± 0.98	0.77 ± 0.63	t(14) = 3.829; p[one-tailed] < 0.001***†
Left	Posterior insula	−36	33	15	0.66 ± 0.50	−0.56 ± 0.62	0.12 ± 0.64	t(14) = 2.151; p[one-tailed] = 0.025*
Left	Amygdala	−21	−3	−21	1.24 ± 0.83	−0.57 ± 1.06	0.37 ± 0.77	t(14) = 1.621; p[one-tailed] = 0.064(*)
Left	Cerebellum	−36	81	−24	3.64 ± 1.34	0.97 ± 1.34	2.72 ± 1.40	t(14) = 3.633; p[one-tailed] = 0.001**†
Joy (“joy” − “control”)
Right	Parahippocampal gyrus	30	54	−3	0.29 ± 0.42	−1.57 ± 0.74	−1.07 ± 0.77	t(14) = 0.919; p[one-tailed] = 0.187
Right	Cerebellum	33	84	−27	3.70 ± 1.40	0.31 ± 1.25	0.65 ± 1.43	t(14) = 0.628; p[one-tailed] = 0.270
Right	Cerebellum	21	87	−30	3.35 ± 1.44	0.47 ± 0.95	0.55 ± 1.01	t(14) = 0.159; p[one-tailed] = 0.438

In a previous study of our group, 12 regions of interest (ROIs) had shown significantly reduced modulation of hemodynamic responses during the same paradigm in pre-treatment somatoform disorder patients. Here, we investigated whether contrast values extracted from these ROIs showed a significant normalization after psychotherapy. In six ROIs, we found a significant enhancement of hemodynamic modulation after psychotherapy. After correction for multiple comparisons using a Bonferroni-correction, two ROIs (i.e., the right parahippocampal gyrus and the left cerebellum) showed a significant effect. (Abbreviations: x, y, and z refer to the Talairach coordinates of the regions; h, p1, and p2 refer to the contrast value of the according contrast, where h indicates data of healthy subjects, p1 indicates data of pre-treatment somatoform patients, and p2 indicates data of post-treatment somatoform patients; ± indicates the 95%-interval;

^(*): p < 0.1;

^*: p < 0.05;

^**: p < 0.01;

^***: p < 0.001;

^†: p < 0.004, this indicates a significant effect after controlling for multiple comparisons using a Bonferroni-correction.)