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Wang J, Shi F, Yu L. Effects of acute stress on biological motion perception. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0310502. [PMID: 39292714 PMCID: PMC11410201 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/02/2024] [Indexed: 09/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Biological motion perception is an essential part of the cognitive process. Stress can affect the cognitive process. The present study explored the intrinsic ERP features of the effects of acute psychological stress on biological motion perception. The results contributed scientific evidence for the adaptive behavior changes under acute stress. After a mental arithmetic task was used to induce stress, the paradigm of point-light displays was used to evaluate biological motion perception. Longer reaction time and lower accuracy were found in the inverted walking condition than in the upright walking condition, which was called the "inversion effect". The P2 peak amplitude and the LPP mean amplitude were significantly higher in the local inverted perception than in the local upright walking condition. Compared to the control condition, the stress condition induced lower RT, shorter P1 peak latency of biological motion perception, lower P2 peak amplitude and LPP mean amplitude, and higher N330 peak amplitude. There was an "inversion effect" in biological motion perception. This effect was related to the structural characteristics of biological motion perception but unrelated to the state of acute psychological stress. Acute psychological stress accelerated the reaction time and enhanced attention control of biological motion perception. Attention resources were used earlier, and less attentional investment was made in the early stage of biological motion perception processing. In the late stage, a continuous weakening of inhibition was shown in the parieto-occipital area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jifu Wang
- College of Education and Physical Education, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
| | - Fang Shi
- College of Education and Physical Education, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
| | - Lin Yu
- Neurocognition and Action-Biomechanics Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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2
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Xavier M, Volchan E, Machado AV, David IA, Oliveira L, Portugal LCL, Souza GGL, Erthal FS, Alves RDCS, Mocaiber I, Pereira MG. Threat directionality modulates defensive reactions in humans: cardiac and electrodermal responses. Cogn Emot 2024; 38:954-962. [PMID: 38554265 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2024.2335535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024]
Abstract
Features of threatening cues and the associated context influence the perceived imminence of threat and the defensive responses evoked. To provide additional knowledge about how the directionality of a threat (i.e. directed-towards or away from the viewer) might impact defensive responses in humans, participants were shown pictures of a man carrying a gun (threat) or nonlethal object (neutral) directed-away from or towards the participant. Cardiac and electrodermal responses were collected. Compared to neutral images, threatening images depicting a gun directed-towards the participant induced sustained bradycardia and an increased electrodermal response, interpreted as immobility under attack. This defensive immobility reaction is evoked by high perceived threat and inescapable situations and indicates intense action preparation. Pictures of guns directed-away from the participant induced shorter bradycardia and no significant modulation of the electrodermal response compared to neutral pictures, which might be consistent with the perception of a less threatening situation. The results show that the directionality of threat stimuli is a key factor that prompts different patterns of defensive responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Xavier
- Laboratory of Cognitive Psychophysiology, Department of Natural Sciences, Federal Fluminense University, Rio das Ostras, Brazil
- Programa de pós-graduação em Medicina (Neurologia/Neurociências), Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brasil
| | - Eliane Volchan
- Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
| | - Arthur V Machado
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Physiology and Pharmacology Department, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil
| | - Isabel A David
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Physiology and Pharmacology Department, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil
| | - Letícia Oliveira
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Physiology and Pharmacology Department, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil
| | - Liana C L Portugal
- Neurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Physiological Sciences, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Gabriela G L Souza
- Laboratory of Psychophysiology, Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil
| | - Fátima S Erthal
- Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
| | - Rita de Cássia S Alves
- Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Izabela Mocaiber
- Laboratory of Cognitive Psychophysiology, Department of Natural Sciences, Federal Fluminense University, Rio das Ostras, Brazil
| | - Mirtes G Pereira
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Physiology and Pharmacology Department, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil
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Cornwell BR, Didier PR, Grogans SE, Anderson AS, Islam S, Kim HC, Kuhn M, Tillman RM, Hur J, Scott ZS, Fox AS, DeYoung KA, Smith JF, Shackman AJ. A shared threat-anticipation circuit is dynamically engaged at different moments by certain and uncertain threat. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.10.602972. [PMID: 39026814 PMCID: PMC11257510 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.10.602972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Temporal dynamics play a central role in models of emotion: "fear" is widely conceptualized as a phasic response to certain-and-imminent danger, whereas "anxiety" is a sustained response to uncertain-or-distal harm. Yet the underlying human neurobiology remains contentious. Leveraging an ethnoracially diverse sample, translationally relevant paradigm, and theory-driven modeling approach, we demonstrate that certain and uncertain threat recruit a shared threat-anticipation circuit. This cortico-subcortical circuit exhibits persistently elevated activation when anticipating uncertain-threat encounters and a transient burst of activation in the moments before certain encounters. For many scientists and clinicians, feelings are the defining feature of human fear and anxiety. Here we used an independently validated brain signature to covertly decode the momentary dynamics of anticipatory distress for the first time. Results mirrored the dynamics of neural activation. These observations provide fresh insights into the neurobiology of threat-elicited emotions and set the stage for more ambitious clinical and mechanistic research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian R. Cornwell
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20006 USA
| | - Paige R. Didier
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - Shannon E. Grogans
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - Allegra S. Anderson
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912 USA
| | - Samiha Islam
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | - Hyung Cho Kim
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - Manuel Kuhn
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | | | - Juyoen Hur
- Department of Psychology, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea
| | - Zachary S. Scott
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - Andrew S. Fox
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA
| | - Kathryn A. DeYoung
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - Jason F. Smith
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - Alexander J. Shackman
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
- Department of Maryland Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
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4
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Karpov G, Lin MH, Headley DB, Baker TE. Oscillatory correlates of threat imminence during virtual navigation. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14551. [PMID: 38516942 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
The Predatory Imminence Continuum Theory proposes that defensive behaviors depend on the proximity of a threat. While the neural mechanisms underlying this proposal are well studied in animal models, it remains poorly understood in humans. To address this issue, we recorded EEG from 24 (15 female) young adults engaged in a first-person virtual reality Risk-Reward interaction task. On each trial, participants were placed in a virtual room and presented with either a threat or reward conditioned stimulus (CS) in the same room location (proximal) or different room location (distal). Behaviorally, all participants learned to avoid the threat-CS, with most using the optimal behavior to actively avoid the proximal threat-CS (88% accuracy) and passively avoid the distal threat-CS (69% accuracy). Similarly, participants learned to actively approach the distal reward-CS (82% accuracy) and to remain passive to the proximal reward-CS (72% accuracy). At an electrophysiological level, we observed a general increase in theta power (4-8 Hz) over the right posterior channel P8 across all conditions, with the proximal threat-CS evoking the largest theta response. By contrast, distal cues induced two bursts of gamma (30-60 Hz) power over midline-parietal channel Pz (200 msec post-cue) and right frontal channel Fp2 (300 msec post-cue). Interestingly, the first burst of gamma power was sensitive to the distal threat-CS and the second burst at channel Fp2 was sensitive to the distal reward-CS. Together, these findings demonstrate that oscillatory processes differentiate between the spatial proximity information during threat and reward encoding, likely optimizing the selection of the appropriate behavioral response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galit Karpov
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers State University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Mei-Heng Lin
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers State University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Drew B Headley
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers State University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Travis E Baker
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers State University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
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Merscher AS, Gamer M. Can I see it in the eyes? An investigation of freezing-like motion patterns in response to avoidable threat. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14567. [PMID: 38469631 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 03/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Freezing is one of the most extensively studied defensive behaviors in rodents. Both reduced body and gaze movements during anticipation of threat also occur in humans and have been discussed as translational indicators of freezing but their relationship remains unclear. We thus set out to elucidate body and eye movements and concomitant autonomic dynamics in anticipation of avoidable threat. Specifically, 50 participants viewed naturalistic pictures that were preceded by a colored fixation cross, signaling them whether to expect an inevitable (shock), no (safety), or a potential shock (flight) that could be avoided by a quick button press. Body sway, eye movements, the heart rate and skin conductance were recorded. We replicated previously described reductions in body sway, gaze dispersion, and the heart rate, and a skin conductance increase in flight trials. Stronger reductions in gaze but not in body sway predicted faster motor reactions on a trial-wise basis, highlighting their functional role in action preparation. We failed to find a trait-like relationship between body and gaze movements across participants, but their temporal profiles were positively related within individuals, suggesting that both metrics partly reflect the same construct. However, future research is desirable to assess these response patterns in naturalistic environments. A more ethological examination of different movement dynamics upon threat would not only warrant better comparability between rodent and human research but also help determine whether and how eye-tracking could be implemented as a proxy for fear-related movements in restricted brain imaging environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alma-Sophia Merscher
- Experimental Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Gamer
- Experimental Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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6
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Gerpheide K, Unterschemmann SL, Panitz C, Bierwirth P, Gross JJ, Mueller EM. Unpredictable threat increases early event-related potential amplitudes and cardiac acceleration: A brain-heart coupling study. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14563. [PMID: 38467585 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
In the face of unpredictable threat, rapid processing of external events and behavioral mobilization through early psychophysiological responses are crucial for survival. While unpredictable threat generally enhances early processing, it would seem adaptive to particularly increase sensitivity for unexpected events as they may signal danger. To examine this possibility, n = 77 participants performed an auditory oddball paradigm and received unpredictable shocks in threat but not in safe contexts while a stream of frequent (standard) and infrequent (deviant) tones was presented. We assessed event-related potentials (ERP), heart period (HP), and time-lagged within-subject correlations of single-trial EEG and HP (cardio-EEG covariance tracing, CECT) time-locked to the tones. N1 and P2 ERP amplitudes were generally enhanced under threat. The P3 amplitude was enhanced to deviants versus standards and this effect was reduced in the threat condition. Regarding HP, both threat versus safe and unexpected versus expected tones led to stronger cardiac acceleration, suggesting separate effects of threat and stimulus expectancy on HP. Finally, CECTs revealed two correlation clusters, indicating that single-trial EEG magnitudes in the N1/P2 and P3 time-windows predicted subsequent cardiac acceleration. The current results show that an unpredictable threat context enhances N1 and P2 amplitudes and cardiac acceleration to benign auditory stimuli. They further suggest separable cortical correlates of different effects on cardiac activity: an early N1/P2 correlate associated with threat-effects on HP and a later P3 correlate associated with expectedness-effects. Finally, the results indicate that unpredictable threat attenuates rather than enhances the processing of unexpected benign events during the P3 latency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathrin Gerpheide
- Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | | | - Christian Panitz
- Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | | | - James J Gross
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Erik M Mueller
- Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
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Ahmadlou M, Giannouli M, van Vierbergen JFM, van Leeuwen T, Bloem W, Houba JHW, Shirazi MY, Cazemier JL, Haak R, Dubey M, de Winter F, Heimel JA. Cell-type-specific hypothalamic pathways to brainstem drive context-dependent strategies in response to stressors. Curr Biol 2024; 34:2448-2459.e4. [PMID: 38754425 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Adaptive behavioral responses to stressors are critical for survival. However, which brain areas orchestrate switching the appropriate stress responses to distinct contexts is an open question. This study aimed to identify the cell-type-specific brain circuitry governing the selection of distinct behavioral strategies in response to stressors. Through novel mouse behavior paradigms, we observed distinct stressor-evoked behaviors in two psycho-spatially distinct contexts characterized by stressors inside or outside the safe zone. The identification of brain regions activated in both conditions revealed the involvement of the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH). Further investigation using optogenetics, chemogenetics, and photometry revealed that glutamatergic projections from the DMH to periaqueductal gray (PAG) mediated responses to inside stressors, while GABAergic projections, particularly from tachykinin1-expressing neurons, played a crucial role in coping with outside stressors. These findings elucidate the role of cell-type-specific circuitry from the DMH to the PAG in shaping behavioral strategies in response to stressors. These findings have the potential to advance our understanding of fundamental neurobiological processes and inform the development of novel approaches for managing context-dependent and anxiety-associated pathological conditions such as agoraphobia and claustrophobia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehran Ahmadlou
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, W1T4AJ London, UK.
| | - Maria Giannouli
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jacqueline F M van Vierbergen
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Tom van Leeuwen
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Wouter Bloem
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Janou H W Houba
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Maryam Yasamin Shirazi
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - J Leonie Cazemier
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Robin Haak
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Mohit Dubey
- Department of Axonal Signaling, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Fred de Winter
- Laboratory for Neuroregeneration, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - J Alexander Heimel
- Circuits, Structure and Function Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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Klaassen FH, de Voogd LD, Hulsman AM, O'Reilly JX, Klumpers F, Figner B, Roelofs K. The neurocomputational link between defensive cardiac states and approach-avoidance arbitration under threat. Commun Biol 2024; 7:576. [PMID: 38755409 PMCID: PMC11099143 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06267-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Avoidance, a hallmark of anxiety-related psychopathology, often comes at a cost; avoiding threat may forgo the possibility of a reward. Theories predict that optimal approach-avoidance arbitration depends on threat-induced psychophysiological states, like freezing-related bradycardia. Here we used model-based fMRI analyses to investigate whether and how bradycardia states are linked to the neurocomputational underpinnings of approach-avoidance arbitration under varying reward and threat magnitudes. We show that bradycardia states are associated with increased threat-induced avoidance and more pronounced reward-threat value comparison (i.e., a stronger tendency to approach vs. avoid when expected reward outweighs threat). An amygdala-striatal-prefrontal circuit supports approach-avoidance arbitration under threat, with specific involvement of the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC) in integrating reward-threat value and bradycardia states. These findings highlight the role of human freezing states in value-based decision making, relevant for optimal threat coping. They point to a specific role for amygdala/dACC in state-value integration under threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix H Klaassen
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Lycia D de Voogd
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Leiden University, Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Rapenburg 70, 2311 EZ, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Anneloes M Hulsman
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Jill X O'Reilly
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Woodstock Road, OX2 6GG, Oxford, UK
| | - Floris Klumpers
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Bernd Figner
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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Borgomaneri S, Vitale F, Battaglia S, de Vega M, Avenanti A. Task-related modulation of motor response to emotional bodies: A TMS motor-evoked potential study. Cortex 2024; 171:235-246. [PMID: 38096756 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Exposure to emotional body postures during perceptual decision-making tasks has been linked to transient suppression of motor reactivity, supporting the monitoring of emotionally relevant information. However, it remains unclear whether this effect occurs implicitly, i.e., when emotional information is irrelevant to the task. To investigate this issue, we used single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to assess motor excitability while healthy participants were asked to categorize pictures of body expressions as emotional or neutral (emotion recognition task) or as belonging to a male or a female actor (gender recognition task) while receiving TMS over the motor cortex at 100 and 125 ms after picture onset. Results demonstrated that motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were reduced for emotional body postures relative to neutral postures during the emotion recognition task. Conversely, MEPs increased for emotional body postures relative to neutral postures during the gender recognition task. These findings indicate that motor inhibition, contingent upon observing emotional body postures, is selectively associated with actively monitoring emotional features. In contrast, observing emotional body postures prompts motor facilitation when task-relevant features are non-emotional. These findings contribute to embodied cognition models that link emotion perception and action tendencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Borgomaneri
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy.
| | - Francesca Vitale
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Simone Battaglia
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy
| | - Manuel de Vega
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, Cesena, Italy; Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurosciencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica Del Maule, Talca, Chile.
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Hildebrand AS, Breuer F, Leehr EJ, Finke JB, Bucher L, Klucken T, Dannlowski U, Roesmann K. Inhibitory control and its modification in spider phobia - Study protocol for an antisaccade training trial. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0292471. [PMID: 38113211 PMCID: PMC10729957 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Inhibitory control deficits are considered a key pathogenic factor in anxiety disorders. To assess inhibitory control, the antisaccade task is a well-established measure that assesses antisaccade performance via latencies and error rates. The present study follows three aims: (1) to investigate inhibitory control via antisaccade latencies and errors in an antisaccade task, and their associations with multiple measures of fear in patients with spider phobia (SP) versus healthy controls (HC), (2) to investigate the modifiability of antisaccade performance via a fear-specific antisaccade training in patients with SP and HC, and (3) to explore associations between putative training-induced changes in antisaccade performance in SPs and changes in diverse measures of fear. METHODS Towards aim 1, we assess antisaccade latencies (primary outcome) and error rates (secondary outcome) in an emotional antisaccade task. Further, the baseline assessment includes assessments of psychophysiological, behavioral, and psychometric indices of fear in patients with SP and HCs. To address aim 2, we compare effects of a fear-specific antisaccade training with effects of a prosaccade training as a control condition. The primary and secondary outcomes are reassessed at a post-1-assessment in both SPs and HCs. Aim 3 employs a cross-over design and is piloted in patients with SP, only. Towards this aim, primary and secondary outcomes, as well as psychophysiological, behavioral, and psychometric measures of fear are reassessed at a post-2-assessment after the second training block. CONCLUSION This study aims to better understand inhibitory control processes and their modifiability in spider phobia. If successful, antisaccade training may assist in the treatment of specific phobia by directly targeting the putative underlying inhibitory control deficits. This study has been preregistered with ISRCTN (ID: ISRCTN12918583) on 28th February 2022.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Sophie Hildebrand
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Fabian Breuer
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Johannes B. Finke
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Leandra Bucher
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Tim Klucken
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Udo Dannlowski
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Kati Roesmann
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Unit of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy in Childhood and Adolescence, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
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Beutler S, Croy I. Psychophysiological reactions during the trauma-film paradigm and their predictive value for intrusions. Eur J Psychotraumatol 2023; 14:2281753. [PMID: 38059504 PMCID: PMC10990446 DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2023.2281753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Adequate adaptation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is crucial in potentially life-threatening situations. The defence cascade provides a descriptive model of progressing dominant physiological reactions in such situations, including cardiovascular parameters and body mobility. The empirical evidence for this model is scarce, and the influence of physiological reactions in this model for predicting trauma-induced intrusions is unresolved.Objectives: Using a trauma-film paradigm, we aimed to test physiological reactions to a highly stressful film as an analogue to a traumatic event along the defence cascade model. We also aimed to examine the predictive power of physiological activity for subsequent intrusive symptoms.Method: Forty-seven healthy female participants watched a stressful and a neutral film in randomized order. Heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and body sway were measured. Participants tracked frequency, distress, and quality of subsequent intrusions in a diary for 7 consecutive days.Results: For the stressful film, we observed an initial decrease in HR, followed by an increase, before the HR stabilized at a high level, which was not found during the neutral film. No differences in HRV were observed between the two films. Body sway and trembling frequency were heightened during the stressful film. Neither HR nor HRV predicted subsequent intrusions, whereas perceived distress during the stressful film did.Conclusions: Our results suggest that the physiological trauma-analogue response is characterized by an orientation response and subsequent hyperarousal, reaching a high physiological plateau. In contrast to the assumptions of the defence cascade model, the hyperarousal was not followed by downregulation. Potential explanations are discussed. For trauma-associated intrusions in the subsequent week, psychological distress during the film seems to be more important than physiological distress. Understanding the interaction between physiological and psychological responses during threat informs the study of ANS imbalances in mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Beutler
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Medical Faculty, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Ilona Croy
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Medical Faculty, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany
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12
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Wendt J, Kuhn M, Hamm AO, Lonsdorf TB. Recent advances in studying brain-behavior interactions using functional imaging: The primary startle response pathway and its affective modulation in humans. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14364. [PMID: 37402156 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
The startle response is a cross-species defensive reflex that is considered a key tool for cross-species translational emotion research. While the neural pathway mediating (affective) startle modulation has been extensively studied in rodents, human work on brain-behavior interactions has lagged in the past due to technical challenges, which have only recently been overcome through non-invasive simultaneous EMG-fMRI assessments. We illustrate key paradigms and methodological tools for startle response assessment in rodents and humans and review evidence for primary and modulatory neural circuits underlying startle responses and their affective modulation in humans. Based on this, we suggest a refined and integrative model for primary and modulatory startle response pathways in humans concluding that there is strong evidence from human work on the neurobiological pathway underlying the primary startle response while evidence for the modulatory pathway is still sparse. In addition, we provide methodological considerations to guide future work and provide an outlook on new and exciting perspectives enabled through technical and theoretical advances outlined in this work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Manuel Kuhn
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Tina B Lonsdorf
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Bielefeld, Germany
- Institute for Psychology, Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
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13
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McCall C, Schofield G, Halgarth D, Blyth G, Laycock A, Palombo DJ. The underwood project: A virtual environment for eliciting ambiguous threat. Behav Res Methods 2023; 55:4002-4017. [PMID: 36289179 PMCID: PMC10700233 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-022-02002-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Threatening environments can be unpredictable in many different ways. The nature of threats, their timing, and their locations in a scene can all be uncertain, even when one is acutely aware of being at risk. Prior research demonstrates that both temporal unpredictability and spatial uncertainty of threats elicit a distinctly anxious psychological response. In the paradigm presented here, we further explore other facets of ambiguous threat via an environment in which there are no concrete threats, predictable or otherwise, but which nevertheless elicits a building sense of danger. By incorporating both psychological research and principles of emotional game design, we constructed this world and then tested its effects in three studies. In line with our goals, participants experienced the environment as creepy and unpredictable. Their subjective and physiological response to the world rose and fell in line with the presentation of ambiguously threatening ambient cues. Exploratory analyses further suggest that this ambiguously threatening experience influenced memory for the virtual world and its underlying narrative. Together the data demonstrate that naturalistic virtual worlds can effectively elicit a multifaceted experience of ambiguous threat with subjective and cognitive consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cade McCall
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Guy Schofield
- School of Arts and Creative Technologies, University of York, York, UK
| | - Darel Halgarth
- Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, UK
| | - Georgina Blyth
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Aaron Laycock
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Daniela J Palombo
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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14
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Liu P, Zheng J, Wang Y, Chen L, Lin L, Wang Y. Motor inhibition impacts the motor interference effect of dangerous objects based on a prime-target grasping consistency judgment task. Int J Psychophysiol 2023; 193:112248. [PMID: 37778535 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.112248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 09/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
Whether motor inhibition impacts the motor interference effect of dangerous objects is controversial. Previous studies have manipulated task type and found that dangerous objects elicited increased motor inhibition compared to safe objects in the reachability judgment task but not in the categorization task. However, it was still unclear why motor inhibition was reduced for dangerous objects in the categorization task. We speculated that the activation strength of object affordance might modulate the occurrence of motor inhibition. To test this hypothesis, the present study designed a prime-target grasping consistency judgment task and manipulated target grips (power grip vs. precision grip), target dangerousness (dangerous vs. safe), and Go/NoGo (Go vs. NoGo). The results showed that under the condition of high activation strength of the target affordance (i.e., power grip targets), processing dangerous targets evoked increased motor inhibition (reflected by a more negative frontal N2 component) compared to safe targets and produced a motor interference effect in reaction time (RT). In contrast, under the condition of low target affordance activation strength (i.e., precision grip targets), processing dangerous targets facilitated RT compared to safe targets, with no difference found between the dangerous and safe conditions in the frontal N2 component. Furthermore, compared to safe objects, dangerous objects attracted more attention and recruited more cognitive resources to select appropriate responses to them. This study extended the findings of previous studies on the motor interference effect by highlighting the importance of activation strength for eliciting motor inhibition based on the prime-target consistency judgment task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Liu
- School of Public Administration, School of Emergency Management, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
| | - Jiali Zheng
- School of Public Administration, School of Emergency Management, Northwest University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yongchun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Behavior & Cognitive Neuroscience in Shaanxi Province, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Lu Chen
- School of Public Administration, School of Emergency Management, Northwest University, Xi'an, China
| | - Leyun Lin
- Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Yonghui Wang
- Key Laboratory of Behavior & Cognitive Neuroscience in Shaanxi Province, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China.
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15
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Morabito DM, Schmidt NB. Efficacy of a brief web-based tonic immobility psychoeducation intervention among trauma-exposed adults: A randomized clinical trial. J Trauma Stress 2023; 36:896-906. [PMID: 37467150 DOI: 10.1002/jts.22955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
Tonic immobility (TI) is a defensive response that may occur during traumatic events. Although TI is adaptive in certain circumstances, it has been shown to contribute to increased trauma-related symptoms and poorer recovery. However, current frontline treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have not focused significant attention on the experience of TI. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop and test the impact of a brief TI-focused psychoeducation (TIP) intervention on posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD symptoms relative to a health education control intervention. The sample included 46 adults with elevated PTSD symptoms who endorsed prior TI episodes. After providing informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to either the active or control intervention and completed self-report questionnaires including the tonic immobility questionnaire (TIQ-R), Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5), Posttraumatic Stress Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) at baseline, 1-week, and 1-month follow-up assessments. Results from linear mixed effects models indicated that participants in the TIP condition reported significantly larger reductions in posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD symptoms at 1-week, ds = 0.48 and 0.84, respectively, and 1-month, ds = 0.67 and 0.74. The findings suggest that TIP is a promising intervention that may be used to reduce posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD symptoms associated with TI. Given the ease of access, TIP could be used as a standalone intervention or as an add-on to existing evidence-based treatments for PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle M Morabito
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Norman B Schmidt
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
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16
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Kryklywy JH, Forys BJ, Vieira JB, Quinlan DJ, Mitchell DGV. Dissociating representations of affect and motion in visual cortices. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 23:1322-1345. [PMID: 37526901 PMCID: PMC10545642 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01115-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
While a delicious dessert being presented to us may elicit strong feelings of happiness and excitement, the same treat falling slowly away can lead to sadness and disappointment. Our emotional response to the item depends on its visual motion direction. Despite this importance, it remains unclear whether (and how) cortical areas devoted to decoding motion direction represents or integrates emotion with perceived motion direction. Motion-selective visual area V5/MT+ sits, both functionally and anatomically, at the nexus of dorsal and ventral visual streams. These pathways, however, differ in how they are modulated by emotional cues. The current study was designed to disentangle how emotion and motion perception interact, as well as use emotion-dependent modulation of visual cortices to understand the relation of V5/MT+ to canonical processing streams. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), approaching, receding, or static motion after-effects (MAEs) were induced on stationary positive, negative, and neutral stimuli. An independent localizer scan was conducted to identify the visual-motion area V5/MT+. Through univariate and multivariate analyses, we demonstrated that emotion representations in V5/MT+ share a more similar response profile to that observed in ventral visual than dorsal, visual structures. Specifically, V5/MT+ and ventral structures were sensitive to the emotional content of visual stimuli, whereas dorsal visual structures were not. Overall, this work highlights the critical role of V5/MT+ in the representation and processing of visually acquired emotional content. It further suggests a role for this region in utilizing affectively salient visual information to augment motion perception of biologically relevant stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- James H Kryklywy
- Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada.
| | - Brandon J Forys
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Joana B Vieira
- Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Derek J Quinlan
- Department of Psychology, Huron University College, London, Canada
- Graduate Brain and Mind Institute, Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - Derek G V Mitchell
- Graduate Brain and Mind Institute, Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B7, Canada
- Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
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17
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Yang X, Spangler DP, Jennings JR, Friedman BH. Cardiac timing and threatening stimuli influence response inhibition and ex-Gaussian parameters of reaction time in a Go/No-go task. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14260. [PMID: 36717691 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Sensorimotor responses vary as a function of the cardiac cycle phase. These effects, known as cardiac cycle time effects, have been explained by the inhibition of cardiac afferent signals on information processing. However, the validity of cardiac cycle time effects is challenged by mixed findings. Factors such as current information processing and affective context may modulate cardiac cycle time effects and account for inconsistencies in the literature. The current study examines the influence of cardiac cycle time and threatening stimuli on two aspects of sensorimotor processing, response speed and inhibition. Thirty-four participants (Mage = 19.35 years; 29 female) completed an auditory Go/No-go task in no face, neutral face, and fearful face conditions. Faces were presented at either cardiac diastole or systole. Participants' reaction times (RTs) during Go trials and failures in response inhibition during No-go trials were recorded. The ex-Gaussian model was fit to RT data in each condition deriving the parameters, mu (μ) and tau (τ), that indicate response speed and attentional lapses, respectively. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze behavioral data. Results showed that cardiac systole prolonged μ but decreased τ, and that cardiac diastole reduced inhibition errors in the fearful face condition but not in other conditions. These findings indicate that cardiac timing differentially modulates sensory-perceptual and top-down attentional processes and cardiac timing interacts with threatening contexts to influence response inhibition. These results highlight the specificity of cardiac cycle time effects on sensorimotor processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Yang
- Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
| | - Derek P Spangler
- Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - J Richard Jennings
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Bruce H Friedman
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
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18
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Kerautret L, Dabic S, Navarro J. Exploring hazard anticipation and stress while driving in light of defensive behavior theory. Sci Rep 2023; 13:7883. [PMID: 37188755 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-34714-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
In driving, poor hazard anticipation would provide drivers less time to prepare an appropriate response, increasing the urgency of the situation and generating more stress. Assuming this, the current study seeks to determine whether a predictable road hazard triggers hazard anticipation in drivers that can mitigate the ensuing stress response, and whether the stress response is influenced by driving experience. In a simulated road environment, a cue was used to trigger hazard anticipation, and a road hazard to induce a stress response. Heart rate, pupil diameter, driving speed, subjective stress, arousal, and negative emotions, were retrieved from 36 drivers who all faced the cue followed by the hazard (i.e. a predictable hazard), the cue only, and the hazard only. In the light of work on defensive behaviors, the findings indicate that a predictable hazard triggers hazard anticipation detectable via (1) freezing behavior-characterized by cardiac deceleration-(2) anticipatory pupil dilation and (3) anticipatory speed deceleration. The results also point to a beneficial role for hazard anticipation in reducing driver stress, as evidenced by reductions in peak heart rate levels, as well as in reported levels of stress and negative emotions. Finally, the findings showed an influence of driving experience on reported levels of stress. Overall, this study shows how previous work on defensive behaviors can be used to gain insight into the processes and driving behaviors involved in hazard anticipation and stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laora Kerautret
- Valeo Interior Controls, Rue Jules Verne, 74100, Annemasse, France.
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mecanismes Cognitifs (EA 3082), University Lyon 2, 5 Avenue Pierre Mendès, 69676, Bron, France.
| | - Stephanie Dabic
- Valeo Interior Controls, Rue Jules Verne, 74100, Annemasse, France
| | - Jordan Navarro
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mecanismes Cognitifs (EA 3082), University Lyon 2, 5 Avenue Pierre Mendès, 69676, Bron, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
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19
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Bach DR, Sporrer J, Abend R, Beckers T, Dunsmoor JE, Fullana MA, Gamer M, Gee DG, Hamm A, Hartley CA, Herringa RJ, Jovanovic T, Kalisch R, Knight DC, Lissek S, Lonsdorf TB, Merz CJ, Milad M, Morriss J, Phelps EA, Pine DS, Olsson A, van Reekum CM, Schiller D. Consensus design of a calibration experiment for human fear conditioning. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 148:105146. [PMID: 36990370 PMCID: PMC10618407 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Fear conditioning is a widely used laboratory model to investigate learning, memory, and psychopathology across species. The quantification of learning in this paradigm is heterogeneous in humans and psychometric properties of different quantification methods can be difficult to establish. To overcome this obstacle, calibration is a standard metrological procedure in which well-defined values of a latent variable are generated in an established experimental paradigm. These intended values then serve as validity criterion to rank methods. Here, we develop a calibration protocol for human fear conditioning. Based on a literature review, series of workshops, and survey of N = 96 experts, we propose a calibration experiment and settings for 25 design variables to calibrate the measurement of fear conditioning. Design variables were chosen to be as theory-free as possible and allow wide applicability in different experimental contexts. Besides establishing a specific calibration procedure, the general calibration process we outline may serve as a blueprint for calibration efforts in other subfields of behavioral neuroscience that need measurement refinement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominik R Bach
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, United Kingdom; Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, Transdisciplinary Research Area "Life & Health", University of Bonn, Germany.
| | - Juliana Sporrer
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Rany Abend
- National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Tom Beckers
- KU Leuven, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences/Leuven Brain Institute, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Joseph E Dunsmoor
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, USA
| | - Miquel A Fullana
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), CIBERSAM, & Adult Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Matthias Gamer
- Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, Department of Psychology, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Dylan G Gee
- Yale University, Department of Psychology, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Alfons Hamm
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Ryan J Herringa
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, USA
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Raffael Kalisch
- Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany; and Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR), Mainz, Germany
| | - David C Knight
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Psychology, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Shmuel Lissek
- Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Tina B Lonsdorf
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christian J Merz
- Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Psychology, Bochum, Germany
| | - Mohammed Milad
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA
| | - Jayne Morriss
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth A Phelps
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 52 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Daniel S Pine
- National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Andreas Olsson
- Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Carien M van Reekum
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Daniela Schiller
- Friedman Brain Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, New York, NY, USA
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20
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Carsten HP, Härpfer K, Nelson BD, Kathmann N, Riesel A. Don't worry, it won't be fine. Contributions of worry and anxious arousal to startle responses and event-related potentials in threat anticipation. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023:10.3758/s13415-023-01094-4. [PMID: 37106311 PMCID: PMC10400686 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01094-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/26/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
A widely shared framework suggests that anxiety maps onto two dimensions: anxious apprehension and anxious arousal. Previous research linked individual differences in these dimensions to differential neural response patterns in neuropsychological, imaging, and physiological studies. Differential effects of the anxiety dimensions might contribute to inconsistencies in prior studies that examined neural processes underlying anxiety, such as hypersensitivity to unpredictable threat. We investigated the association between trait worry (as a key component of anxious apprehension), anxious arousal, and the neural processing of anticipated threat. From a large online community sample (N = 1,603), we invited 136 participants with converging and diverging worry and anxious arousal profiles into the laboratory. Participants underwent the NPU-threat test with alternating phases of unpredictable threat, predictable threat, and safety, while physiological responses (startle reflex and startle probe locked event-related potential components N1 and P3) were recorded. Worry was associated with increased startle responses to unpredictable threat and increased attentional allocation (P3) to startle probes in predictable threat anticipation. Anxious arousal was associated with increased startle and N1 in unpredictable threat anticipation. These results suggest that trait variations in the anxiety dimensions shape the dynamics of neural processing of threat. Specifically, trait worry seems to simultaneously increase automatic defensive preparation during unpredictable threat and increase attentional responding to threat-irrelevant stimuli during predictable threat anticipation. The current study highlights the utility of anxiety dimensions to understand how physiological responses during threat anticipation are altered in anxiety and supports that worry is associated with hypersensitivity to unpredictable, aversive contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannes Per Carsten
- Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Kai Härpfer
- Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Brady D Nelson
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Norbert Kathmann
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anja Riesel
- Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
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21
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van Alebeek H, Kahveci S, Rinck M, Blechert J. Touchscreen-based approach-avoidance responses to appetitive and threatening stimuli. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2023; 78:101806. [PMID: 36435548 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2022.101806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Individuals are thought to be biased towards approaching positive stimuli and avoiding negative stimuli. Yet, it is unclear whether this general pattern applies to all stimulus classes or whether biases are more specific. We expected significant approach biases towards two types of positive stimuli, appetitive foods and butterflies; and avoidance biases away from two types of negative stimuli, spoiled foods and spiders. METHODS A touchscreen-based Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT), using hand gestures toward or away from stimuli assessed biases. Questionnaires and image ratings assessed individual differences in stimulus evaluations. RESULTS Approach biases for butterflies and appetitive foods were found, the latter being strongest towards individually liked foods. There was no avoidance bias for spoiled foods. An avoidance bias for spiders was found in individuals with elevated spider fear. LIMITATIONS Incomplete counterbalancing precluded direct comparison between both positive and negative stimuli. CONCLUSIONS Behavioural biases in the touchscreen AAT generally co-vary with individuals' affective evaluation of the stimuli. Approach biases were elicited by positive stimuli independently of whether they were regularly (foods) or rarely (butterflies) approached in everyday life. This may hint towards a tendency to approach positive stimuli regardless of the specific category, whereas avoidance biases may be more stimulus specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah van Alebeek
- Department of Psychology, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Sercan Kahveci
- Department of Psychology, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Mike Rinck
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Jens Blechert
- Department of Psychology, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
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22
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Szeska C, Mohrmann H, Hamm AO. Facilitated extinction but impaired extinction recall by eye movement manipulation in humans - Indications for action mechanisms and the applicability of eye movement desensitization. Int J Psychophysiol 2023; 184:64-75. [PMID: 36586670 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy utilizes the manipulation of eye movements to reduce affective distress during fear-exposure. Animal research recently suggested a potential neural mechanism underlying these effects, by which increased activity of the superior colliculus (SC), mediating visual attention, increases the inhibition of the basolateral amygdala (BLA), mediating defensive plasticity. We tested such mechanism in forty healthy humans using a multiple-day single-cue fear conditioning and extinction paradigm. The activity of the SC during extinction was experimentally manipulated by eye movements, as half of the participants executed saccadic eye movements (n = 20; major SC involvement), while the other half executed smooth eye pursuits (n = 20; minor SC involvement). Amygdala-mediated fear-potentiated startle responses and fear bradycardia, as well as threat expectancy was analyzed. Saccadic eye movements facilitated the extinction of fear bradycardia and fear-potentiated startle responses. Higher saccadic accuracy and range correlated with reduced fear-potentiated startle. However, during extinction recall, fear-potentiated startle and fear bradycardia resurged and partly reached levels obtained after fear acquisition. Threat expectancy was not affected by different eye movements and was not elevated during extinction recall. Within limitations, results support an inhibitory SC-BLA pathway in humans by which eye movements may reduce low-level defensive responding, but not threat expectancy. Yet, manipulating eye movements during extinction learning seems to impair extinction recall for behavioral and physiological defensive response indices. Thus, increasing SC activity might enhance initial efficacy of exposure treatment, but additional strategies seem necessary for sustained fear attenuation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Szeska
- University of Greifswald, Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology / Psychotherapy, Franz-Mehring-Strasse 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Heino Mohrmann
- University of Greifswald, Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology / Psychotherapy, Franz-Mehring-Strasse 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- University of Greifswald, Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology / Psychotherapy, Franz-Mehring-Strasse 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
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Bertram T, Hoffmann Ayala D, Huber M, Brandl F, Starke G, Sorg C, Mulej Bratec S. Human threat circuits: Threats of pain, aggressive conspecific, and predator elicit distinct BOLD activations in the amygdala and hypothalamus. Front Psychiatry 2023; 13:1063238. [PMID: 36733415 PMCID: PMC9887727 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1063238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Threat processing, enabled by threat circuits, is supported by a remarkably conserved neural architecture across mammals. Threatening stimuli relevant for most species include the threat of being attacked by a predator or an aggressive conspecific and the threat of pain. Extensive studies in rodents have associated the threats of pain, predator attack and aggressive conspecific attack with distinct neural circuits in subregions of the amygdala, the hypothalamus and the periaqueductal gray. Bearing in mind the considerable conservation of both the anatomy of these regions and defensive behaviors across mammalian species, we hypothesized that distinct brain activity corresponding to the threats of pain, predator attack and aggressive conspecific attack would also exist in human subcortical brain regions. Methods Forty healthy female subjects underwent fMRI scanning during aversive classical conditioning. In close analogy to rodent studies, threat stimuli consisted of painful electric shocks, a short video clip of an attacking bear and a short video clip of an attacking man. Threat processing was conceptualized as the expectation of the aversive stimulus during the presentation of the conditioned stimulus. Results Our results demonstrate differential brain activations in the left and right amygdala as well as in the left hypothalamus for the threats of pain, predator attack and aggressive conspecific attack, for the first time showing distinct threat-related brain activity within the human subcortical brain. Specifically, the threat of pain showed an increase of activity in the left and right amygdala and the left hypothalamus compared to the threat of conspecific attack (pain > conspecific), and increased activity in the left amygdala compared to the threat of predator attack (pain > predator). Threat of conspecific attack revealed heightened activity in the right amygdala, both in comparison to threat of pain (conspecific > pain) and threat of predator attack (conspecific > predator). Finally, for the condition threat of predator attack we found increased activity in the bilateral amygdala and the hypothalamus when compared to threat of conspecific attack (predator > conspecific). No significant clusters were found for the contrast predator attack > pain. Conclusion Results suggest that threat type-specific circuits identified in rodents might be conserved in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Bertram
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Daniel Hoffmann Ayala
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Neurosurgery, Klinikum Großhadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Maria Huber
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Felix Brandl
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Georg Starke
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- College of Humanities, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Christian Sorg
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Satja Mulej Bratec
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
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Cain CK. Beyond Fear, Extinction, and Freezing: Strategies for Improving the Translational Value of Animal Conditioning Research. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2023; 64:19-57. [PMID: 37532965 PMCID: PMC10840073 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2023_434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
Translational neuroscience for anxiety has had limited success despite great progress in understanding the neurobiology of Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction. This chapter explores the idea that conditioning paradigms have had a modest impact on translation because studies in animals and humans are misaligned in important ways. For instance, animal conditioning studies typically use imminent threats to assess short-duration fear states with single behavioral measures (e.g., freezing), whereas human studies typically assess weaker or more prolonged anxiety states with physiological (e.g., skin conductance) and self-report measures. A path forward may be more animal research on conditioned anxiety phenomena measuring dynamic behavioral and physiological responses in more complex environments. Exploring transitions between defensive brain states during extinction, looming threats, and post-threat recovery may be particularly informative. If care is taken to align paradigms, threat levels, and measures, this strategy may reveal stable patterns of non-conscious defense in animals and humans that correlate better with conscious anxiety. This shift in focus is also warranted because anxiety is a bigger problem than fear, even in disorders defined by dysfunctional fear or panic reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher K Cain
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, USA.
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.
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Post-COVID-19 Psychiatric Symptoms in the Elderly: The Role of Gender and Resilience. J Pers Med 2022; 12:jpm12122016. [PMID: 36556237 PMCID: PMC9781422 DOI: 10.3390/jpm12122016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 represents an overwhelming stressor to mental health. Elderly individuals are particularly at risk, but it is still unclear whether the risk is equally distributed among men and women. The aim of this study was to define gender differences in persistent psychiatric symptoms after COVID-19 illness and to test their association with resilience factors. Methods: We assessed 348 individuals aged >65 years at a multidisciplinary post-COVID-19 service. Mood and anxiety symptoms were investigated, as well as psychological distress and resilience, as assessed with the Kessler-10 (K10) Scale and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), respectively. Multivariate and linear regression analyses were used to test the distribution patterns of psychiatric symptoms and resilience factors. Results: In the total sample, 214 (61.5%) were men (a mean age of 73.25 years ±6.04) and 134 (38.5%) were women (a mean age of 72.69 years ±6.43; p = 0.407). Men and women significantly differed in marital status (χ2 = 25.17; p < 0.001, more men were married), living alone (χ2 = 11.62; p < 0.01, fewer men were living alone), hospitalization during COVID-19 illness (χ2 = 12.35; p < 0.001, more men were hospitalized during COVID-19), and subjective health status before COVID-19 infection (χ2 = 4.32; p < 0.001, men reporting better subjective health than women). Women reported more psychiatric symptoms and fewer resilience factors than men. Low resilience levels significantly predicted psychological distress in both men and women. Conclusions: The female elderly population affected by COVID-19 showed a greater vulnerability to psychiatric symptoms. Our data point to the need to strengthen resilience resources, especially in women.
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Mennella R, Bavard S, Mentec I, Grèzes J. Spontaneous instrumental avoidance learning in social contexts. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17528. [PMID: 36266316 PMCID: PMC9585085 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22334-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Adaptation to our social environment requires learning how to avoid potentially harmful situations, such as encounters with aggressive individuals. Threatening facial expressions can evoke automatic stimulus-driven reactions, but whether their aversive motivational value suffices to drive instrumental active avoidance remains unclear. When asked to freely choose between different action alternatives, participants spontaneously-without instruction or monetary reward-developed a preference for choices that maximized the probability of avoiding angry individuals (sitting away from them in a waiting room). Most participants showed clear behavioral signs of instrumental learning, even in the absence of an explicit avoidance strategy. Inter-individual variability in learning depended on participants' subjective evaluations and sensitivity to threat approach feedback. Counterfactual learning best accounted for avoidance behaviors, especially in participants who developed an explicit avoidance strategy. Our results demonstrate that implicit defensive behaviors in social contexts are likely the product of several learning processes, including instrumental learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocco Mennella
- grid.508487.60000 0004 7885 7602Laboratoire des Interactions Cognition, Action, Émotion (LICAÉ), Université Paris Nanterre, 200 Avenue de La République, 92001 Nanterre Cedex, France ,grid.440907.e0000 0004 1784 3645Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 Rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Sophie Bavard
- grid.440907.e0000 0004 1784 3645Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 Rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France ,grid.9026.d0000 0001 2287 2617Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Inès Mentec
- grid.440907.e0000 0004 1784 3645Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 Rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Julie Grèzes
- grid.440907.e0000 0004 1784 3645Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 Rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
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27
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Logan TK, Lynch KR. Increased Risks or Peace of Mind? Exploring Fear, Victimization, and Safety Strategies Among Women Planning to Get a Gun. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2022; 37:NP18032-NP18059. [PMID: 34376085 DOI: 10.1177/08862605211035865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Much of the research on firearm owners implies that the U.S. population can be divided into two groups-those that own guns and those that do not; however, there is a third group-those thinking of getting a gun and almost nothing is known about this group. A survey on gun ownership, experiences, and behaviors was deployed online via Prolific in June and July 2020 to recruit women from the general U.S. population who were planning on getting a gun (n = 187), who owned a gun (n = 288) and who did not own or plan to own guns (n = 968). Results show that women planning on getting a gun worried more about their personal safety and more had experienced recent interpersonal violence victimization compared to the other two groups. Almost all of the women planning on getting a gun believed that carrying a gun would make them safer. Even though women planning on getting a gun had limited experience with guns, they expressed fewer gun related worries than nongun owners. Additionally, women planning on getting a gun had more depression symptoms and more of them indicated they had thoughts of self-harm in the past two weeks than current gun owners. Depression symptoms were significantly associated with plans to get a gun in the multivariate model. Given the risks associated with having firearms in the household, interventions could target those considering getting a gun as well as educating friends and family about what to say when someone close is considering obtaining a firearm for safety.
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Affiliation(s)
- T K Logan
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
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28
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Loeb EL, Gonzalez MZ, Hunt G, Uchino BN, de Grey RGK, Allen JP. Socioeconomic status in early adolescence predicts blunted stress responses in adulthood. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22294. [PMID: 35748628 PMCID: PMC9328275 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Individuals who grow up in families with lower socioeconomic status (SES) tend to experience disproportionate rates of chronic stress. The “freeze” response, characterized by blunted cardiovascular reactivity and reduced engagement with the environment, is associated with chronic stress and may be utilized when an individual is unable to escape or overcome environmental stressors. Using a diverse community sample of 184 adolescents followed from the age of 13 to 29 years, along with their friends and romantic partners, this study examined links between family SES and stress responses in adulthood. Low family SES at the age of 13 years directly predicted blunted heart rate responding and fewer attempts to answer math problems during a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Task at the age of 29 years. Indirect effects were found from low family SES to blunted respiratory sinus arrhythmia responding and the number of words spoken during a speech task. SES at the age of 29 years mediated many of these relations. Findings held after accounting for a number of potential confounds, including adolescent academic and attachment functioning and body mass index. We interpret these findings as evidence that low familial SES may predict freezing‐type responses in adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily L Loeb
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | | | - Gabrielle Hunt
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | | | | | - Joseph P Allen
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
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29
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Bradford DE, Shireman JM, Sant’Ana SJ, Fronk GE, Schneck SE, Curtin JJ. Alcohol's effects during uncertain and uncontrollable stressors in the laboratory. Clin Psychol Sci 2022; 10:885-900. [PMID: 36111103 PMCID: PMC9472562 DOI: 10.1177/21677026211061355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol's effects on reactivity to stressors depends on the nature of the stressor and the reactivity being assessed. Research identifying characteristics of stressors that modulate reactivity and clarifies the neurobehavioral, cognitive, and affective components of this reactivity may help prevent, reduce or treat the negative impacts of acute and chronic alcohol use with implications for other psychopathology involving maladaptive reactivity to stressors. We used a novel, multi-measure, cued electric shock stressor paradigm in a greater university community sample of adult recreational drinkers to test how alcohol (N=64), compared to No-alcohol (N=64), effects reactivity to stressors that vary in both their perceived certainty and controllability. Preregistered analyses suggested alcohol significantly dampened subjective anxiety (self-report) and defensive reactivity (startle potentiation) more during uncertain than during certain stressors regardless of controllability, suggesting that stressor uncertainty -but not uncontrollability- may be sufficient to enhance alcohol's stress reactivity dampening and thus negative reinforcement potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E. Bradford
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
- School of Psychological Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
| | - Jack M. Shireman
- Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Sarah J. Sant’Ana
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Gaylen E. Fronk
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Susan E. Schneck
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - John J. Curtin
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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30
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Naudé AR, Machlin L, Furlong S, Sheridan MA. Threat Responsivity Predicts Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Hyperarousal Symptoms in Children after Hurricane Florence. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:690-702. [PMID: 35296986 PMCID: PMC8926419 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-00984-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Following a traumatic event, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are common. Considerable research has identified a relationship between physiological responses during fear learning and PTSD. Adults with PTSD display atypical physiological responses, such as increased skin conductance responses (SCR) to threatening cues during fear learning (Orr et al., 2000). However, little research has examined these responses in childhood when fear learning first emerges. We hypothesized that greater threat responsivity in early acquisition during fear conditioning before Hurricane Florence would predict PTSD symptoms in a sample of young children following the hurricane. The final sample included 58 children in North Carolina who completed fear learning before Hurricane Florence-a potentially traumatic event. After the hurricane, we assessed severity of hurricane impact and PTSD symptoms. We found that threat responsivity as measured by differential SCR during fear learning before the hurricane predicted PTSD hyperarousal symptoms and that hurricane impact predicted PTSD symptoms following the disaster. This exploratory work suggests that prospective associations between threat responsivity and PTSD symptoms observed in adulthood may be replicated in early childhood. Results are discussed in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison R Naudé
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 235 E. Cameron Ave, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Laura Machlin
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 235 E. Cameron Ave, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Sarah Furlong
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 235 E. Cameron Ave, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Margaret A Sheridan
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 235 E. Cameron Ave, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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31
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Gao H, Wang X, Huang M, Qi M. Chronic academic stress facilitates response inhibition: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:533-541. [PMID: 34910291 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-021-00974-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have found that acute stress can modulate response inhibition. However, the effect of chronic stress on response inhibition has not been investigated. A major examination was adopted as a chronic stressor in this study. Both the stress and control groups performed a modified Go/Nogo task. In each trial, a probe stimulus (left or right arrow) was presented immediately after the Go/Nogo task. The probe reaction time (RT) was used as an index of cognitive load during the task. Event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by Go/Nogo stimuli were investigated. The RTs for the Go stimulus and the probe stimulus were shorter for the stress group than for the control group. This superior performance by stressed participants might suggest a promoted task processing efficiency during the dual task under stress. A smaller probe RT effect (RTNogo - RTGo) was found in the stress group than in the control group, indicating a facilitatory effect of stress on conflict resolution. The ERP results showed that the P2 Go/Nogo effect was smaller for the stress group than for the control group, driven by an increased P2 amplitude after Go trials for the stress group. This might indicate an enhancement of attentional resource allocation to the Go stimuli under stress. Both the Nogo P3 amplitude and the P3 Go/Nogo effect were enhanced in the stress group than in the control group, suggesting that conflict resolution was enhanced under stress. These results demonstrate that chronic academic stress might facilitate response inhibition by promoting conflict resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heming Gao
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Xiaoman Wang
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Mengjiao Huang
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Mingming Qi
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China.
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Merscher AS, Tovote P, Pauli P, Gamer M. Centralized gaze as an adaptive component of defensive states in humans. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220405. [PMID: 35582796 PMCID: PMC9114933 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Adequate defensive responding is crucial for mental health but scientifically not well understood. Specifically, it seems difficult to dissociate defense and approach states based on autonomic response patterns. We thus explored the robustness and threat-specificity of recently described oculomotor dynamics upon threat in anticipation of either threatening or rewarding stimuli in humans. While visually exploring naturalistic images, participants (50 per experiment) expected an inevitable, no, or avoidable shock (Experiment 1) or a guaranteed, no, or achievable reward (Experiment 2) that could be averted or gained by a quick behavioural response. We observed reduced heart rate (bradycardia), increased skin conductance, pupil dilation and globally centralized gaze when shocks were inevitable but, more pronouncedly, when they were avoidable. Reward trials were not associated with globally narrowed visual exploration, but autonomic responses resembled characteristics of the threat condition. While bradycardia and concomitant sympathetic activation reflect not only threat-related but also action-preparatory states independent of valence, global centralization of gaze seems a robust phenomenon during the anticipation of avoidable threat. Thus, instead of relying on single readouts, translational research in animals and humans should consider the multi-dimensionality of states in aversive and rewarding contexts, especially when investigating ambivalent, conflicting situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alma-Sophia Merscher
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Marcusstr. 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Philip Tovote
- Systems Neurobiology, Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University Hospital Würzburg, Versbacher Str. 5, 97078 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Paul Pauli
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Marcusstr. 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Gamer
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Marcusstr. 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
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Midden AJ, Mast BT. Medical help-seeking intentions for cognitive impairment by the patient. Aging Ment Health 2022; 26:1078-1085. [PMID: 33860704 DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2021.1910791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Objectives: Older adults represent one of the fastest growing population groups. As the aged population increases, incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias will also increase. Professionals agree that early intervention is essential for therapeutic and quality of life purposes; however, many older adults wait several months or years to seek medical help after first noticing signs of cognitive impairment. The present study sought to identify the predictors of help-seeking for cognitive impairment by an individual for him/herself after the first detection of symptoms.Method: An online survey was administered to adults (N = 250) 50 years old and older. Individuals responded about their help-seeking intentions in response to a hypothetical vignette depicting symptoms of cognitive decline derived from a similar study with caregivers conducted by Qualls and colleagues. Additional standardized measures measuring constructs such as knowledge of Alzheimer's disease were completed.Results: The present study reveals that cognitive (i.e. symptom identification and disease attribution) and affective (i.e. symptom impact and threat appraisal) factors, as well as an interaction between the two, are predictive of help-seeking intentions with excellent model fit.Conclusion: Help-seeking intentions by individuals with possible cognitive impairment are comparable to those of potential caregivers. Contrary to hypotheses, high threat appraisal positively predicted help-seeking intentions despite the expectation that threat-induced fear would lead to avoidance. Recommendations are made for future research to further investigate both patients' help-seeking intentions and actions in response to signs of cognitive impairment.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1910791 .
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison J Midden
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
| | - Benjamin T Mast
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
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In vivo defensive behaviors, fear, and attention bias to physical and negative evaluation threats. Behav Res Ther 2022; 154:104108. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Qiao Z, Pan DN, Hoid D, van Winkel R, Li X. When the approaching threat is uncertain: Dynamics of defensive motivation and attention in trait anxiety. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14049. [PMID: 35307851 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Uncertainty of threat has been linked to anxiety, but little is known about how neurophysiological responses change as uncertain threats approach and whether trait anxiety modulates these changes. The current study was designed to explore aspects of the dynamics of defensive motivation (startle reflex elicited by acoustic startle probes), attention (probe N100 component of event-related potentials elicited by acoustic startle probes), and autonomic nervous system activity (heart rate) when the approaching threat was certain or uncertain in a variant of the threat probability task. Behavioral results showed that high-trait anxious individuals reported higher levels of anxiety than low-trait anxious individuals only under the uncertain threat condition. Electromyographic data showed that high-trait anxious individuals tended to produce a more pronounced startle reflex, especially when the uncertain threat was proximal. This pattern was not observed in low-trait anxious individuals. By examining early attention engagement through probe N100, we observed a similar pattern in relation to defensive motivation. Moreover, under the uncertain threat condition, high-trait anxious individuals yielded a greater deceleration of heart rate than low-trait anxious individuals. These results indicate a distinct modulation effect of trait anxiety in the dynamics of defensive motivation, attention, and the autonomic nervous system during the anticipation of uncertain threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiling Qiao
- Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,KU Leuven, Department of Neuroscience, Research Group Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dong-Ni Pan
- Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Delhii Hoid
- Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ruud van Winkel
- KU Leuven, Department of Neuroscience, Research Group Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, Leuven, Belgium.,UPC KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Xuebing Li
- Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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36
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Flykt A, Eklund A, Frank J, Johansson M. “Landscape of Stress” for Sheep Owners in the Swedish Wolf Region. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.783035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Farmers who keep livestock in large carnivore areas are exposed to threat of predation directly impacting on finances and workload as well as the associated psychological stress indirectly impacting on farmers well-being. So far, little is known about such stress responses. The concept of “stress” or “stress reaction” is often used as an undifferentiated umbrella concept for the experience of negative emotional episodes. However, the stress reactions could be divided into cognitive, physiological, and behavioural aspects. This study aimed to develop and apply a theory-based approach to identify stress responses among sheep farmers in the Swedish “wolf-region.” A thematic analysis of interviews conducted with sheep farmers showed ample support for stress responses among the informants in relation to large carnivores and their management, although the interviews were conducted with a different focal topic. The findings support the idea that stress responses could be categorised into cognitive, physiological, and behavioural aspects. This distinction would help to identify and fully understand the cumulative impact of stress from the presence of large carnivores on farmers’ well-being.
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37
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Vogel F, Gensthaler A, Schwenck C. Frozen with Fear? Attentional Mechanisms in Children with Selective Mutism. COGNITIVE THERAPY AND RESEARCH 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10608-021-10289-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Children with selective mutism (SM) are consistently unable to speak in certain social situations. Due to an overlap between SM and social anxiety disorder (SAD) in children, similar mechanisms could apply to both disorders. Especially biased attentional processing of threat and fear-induced reduced visual exploration (referred to as attentive freezing) appear promising in SM.
Methods
A total of N = 84 children (8–12 years, SM: n = 28, SAD: n = 28, typical development (TD): n = 28) participated in an eye-tracking paradigm with videos of a social counterpart expressing a question, a social evaluation or a neutral statement. We investigated gaze behavior towards the social counterpart’s eye-region and the extent of visual exploration (length of scanpath), across conditions.
Results
There were no group differences regarding gaze behavior on the eye region. Neither gaze behavior with respect to the eye region nor visual exploration were dependent on the video condition. Compared to children with TD, children with SM generally showed less visual exploration, however children with SAD did not.
Conclusion
Reduced visual exploration might be due to the mechanism of attentive freezing, which could be part of an extensive fear response in SM that might also affect speech-production. Interventions that counteract the state of freezing could be promising for the therapy of SM.
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Mello M, Dupont L, Engelen T, Acciarino A, de Borst AW, de Gelder B. The influence of body expression, group affiliation and threat proximity on interactions in virtual reality. CURRENT RESEARCH IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crbeha.2022.100075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
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39
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van Ast VA, Klumpers F, Grasman RPPP, Krypotos AM, Roelofs K. Postural freezing relates to startle potentiation in a human fear-conditioning paradigm. Psychophysiology 2021; 59:e13983. [PMID: 34954858 PMCID: PMC9285358 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Revised: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Freezing to impending threat is a core defensive response. It has been studied primarily using fear conditioning in non-human animals, thwarting advances in translational human anxiety research that has used other indices, such as skin conductance responses. Here we examine postural freezing as a human conditioning index for translational anxiety research. We employed a mixed cued/contextual fear-conditioning paradigm where one context signals the occurrence of the US upon the presentation of the CS, and another context signals that the CS is not followed by the US. Critically, during the following generalization phase, the CS is presented in a third and novel context. We show that human freezing is highly sensitive to fear conditioning, generalizes to ambiguous contexts, and amplifies with threat imminence. Intriguingly, stronger parasympathetically driven freezing under threat, but not sympathetically mediated skin conductance, predicts subsequent startle magnitude. These results demonstrate that humans show fear-conditioned animal-like freezing responses, known to aid in active preparation for unexpected attack, and that freezing captures real-life anxiety expression. Conditioned freezing offers a promising new, non-invasive, and continuous, readout for human fear conditioning, paving the way for future translational studies into human fear and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa A van Ast
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Floris Klumpers
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Raoul P P P Grasman
- Department of Psychological Methods, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Angelos-Miltiadis Krypotos
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Research Group of Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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40
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Olivett VJ, March DS. White civilians’ implicit danger evaluation of police officers underlies explicit perception of police. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2021; 6:81. [PMID: 34928473 PMCID: PMC8688646 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-021-00343-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The role of implicit processes during police-civilian encounters is well studied from the perspective of the police. Decades of research on the “shooter bias” suggests that implicit Black-danger associations potentiate the perception of threat of Black individuals, leading to a racial bias in the decision to use lethal force. Left understudied are civilians’ possible associations of police with danger and how such associations pervade behavior and explicit views of the police. The current work begins to address this gap. In two within-subjects studies, we separately assess police-threat (i.e., safety/danger) and police-valence (i.e., good/bad) associations as well as their relative influences on explicit perceptions of police. Study 1 revealed that implicit threat evaluations (police-danger associations) more strongly predicted negative explicit views of the police compared to implicit valence evaluations (police-negative associations). Study 2 replicated these findings and suggests that individuals evaluate the police as more dangerous versus negative when each response is pitted against each other within single misattribution procedure trials. The possible implications for explicit attitudes toward police reform and behavior during police-civilian encounters are discussed.
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41
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Meine LE, Meier J, Meyer B, Wessa M. Don't stress, it's under control: Neural correlates of stressor controllability in humans. Neuroimage 2021; 245:118701. [PMID: 34758383 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 10/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal research has repeatedly shown that control is a key variable in the brain's stress response. Uncontrollable stress triggers a release of monoamines, impairing prefrontal functions while enhancing subcortical circuits. Conversely, control over an adverse event involves prefrontally mediated downregulation of monoamine nuclei and is considered protective. However, it remains unclear to what extent these findings translate to humans. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, we subjected participants to controllable and uncontrollable aversive but non-painful electric stimuli, as well as to a control condition without aversive stimulation. In each trial, a symbol signalled whether participants could terminate the stressor through correct performance in a button-matching task or whether the stressor would be randomly terminated, i.e., uncontrollable. Along with neural responses, we assessed participants' accuracy, reaction times, and heart rate. To relate neural activations and subjective experience, we asked participants to rate perceived control, helplessness, and stress. Results were largely in line with our hypotheses. The vmPFC was generally deactivated by aversive stimulation, but this effect was attenuated when participants could terminate the stressor compared to when their responses had no effect. Furthermore, activation in stress-responsive regions, including the bilateral insula, was reduced during controllable trials. Under uncontrollable aversive stimulation, greater vmPFC recruitment was linked to reduced feelings of helplessness. An investigation of condition-dependant differences in vmPFC connectivity yielded no significant results. Our findings further corroborate animal research and emphasise the role of the vmPFC in controllability-dependant regulation of stress responses. Based on the results, we discuss future directions in the context of resilience research and mental health promotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura E Meine
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Wallstraße 3, 55122 Mainz, Germany
| | - Jana Meier
- Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research, Research Group Wessa, Wallstraße 7, 55122 Mainz, Germany
| | - Benjamin Meyer
- Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research, Research Group Kalisch, Wallstraße 7, 55122 Mainz, Germany; Neuroimaging Center, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Langenbeckstraße 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Michèle Wessa
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Wallstraße 3, 55122 Mainz, Germany; Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research, Research Group Wessa, Wallstraße 7, 55122 Mainz, Germany.
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42
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Human defensive freezing: Associations with hair cortisol and trait anxiety. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2021; 133:105417. [PMID: 34571456 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The anticipation of threat facilitates innate defensive behaviours including freezing reactions. Freezing in humans is characterised by reductions in body sway and heart rate. Limited evidence suggests that individual differences in freezing reactions are associated with predictors of anxiety-related psychopathology including trait anxiety and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. However, previous human studies focused on acutely circulating cortisol levels, leaving the link between freezing and more stable, individual trait markers of HPA axis activity unclear. We investigated whether individual differences in anticipatory freezing reactions are predicted by accumulated hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) and trait anxiety, in a well-powered mixed sample of police recruits at the start of the police training, and age, sex and education matched controls (total N = 419, mean age = 24, Nwomen = 106, Npolice recruits = 337). Freezing-related reactions were assessed with posturographic and heart rate measurements during an active shooting task under threat of shock. The anticipation of threat of shock elicited the expected reductions in body sway and heart rate, indicative of human freezing. Individual differences in threat-related reductions in body sway, but not heart rate, were related to lower HCC and higher trait anxiety. The observed links between postural freezing and predictors of anxiety-related psychopathology suggest the potential value of defensive freezing as a somatic marker for individual differences in stress-vulnerability and resilience. DATA AVAILABILITY: The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
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43
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Krause E, Benke C, Hamm AO, Pané-Farré CA. Hold your breath: Voluntary breath-holding time predicts defensive activation to approaching internal threat. Biol Psychol 2021; 166:108196. [PMID: 34601017 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2020] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Bodily disturbances, like dyspnea, elicit responses to regain homeostasis and ensure survival. However, this life-saving function can become hyperreactive, which may lead to the emergence of psychopathology. This study investigated whether maximal voluntary breath-holding time (mvBHT), a biobehavioral marker that characterizes sensitivity to respiratory stimulation, predicts defensive mobilization to cues signaling the proximity of a mild electric shock vs. a respiratory threat (shortness of breath elicited by forced breath-holding) and the opportunity to avoid threat delivery in 60 healthy participants. While the startle reflex, a measure of defensive mobilization, generally increased with the proximity of an inevitable threat, shorter breath-holding time was specifically associated with greater startle potentiation when anticipating a respiratory threat but not an electric shock. In contrast, when both threats were avoidable, the startle reflex was comparably inhibited, irrespective of mvBHT. This study suggests that mvBHT specifically predicts hypersensitive responding to an anticipated inevitable respiratory threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elischa Krause
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/ Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Str., 17475 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Christoph Benke
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/ Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Christiane A Pané-Farré
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/ Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany; Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35037 Marburg, Germany.
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44
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Martinez-Valdes E, Negro F, Arvanitidis M, Farina D, Falla D. Pain-induced changes in motor unit discharge depend on recruitment threshold and contraction speed. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2021; 131:1260-1271. [PMID: 34473572 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01011.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
At high forces, the discharge rates of lower- and higher-threshold motor units (MU) are influenced in a different way by muscle pain. These differential effects may be particularly important for performing contractions at different speeds since the proportion of lower- and higher-threshold MUs recruited varies with contraction velocity. We investigated whether MU discharge and recruitment strategies are differentially affected by pain depending on their recruitment threshold (RT), across a range of contraction speeds. Participants performed ankle dorsiflexion sinusoidal-isometric contractions at two frequencies (0.25 and 1 Hz) and two modulation amplitudes [5% and 10% of the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)] with a mean target torque of 20%MVC. High-density surface electromyography recordings from the tibialis anterior muscle were decomposed and the same MUs were tracked across painful (hypertonic saline injection) and nonpainful conditions. Torque variability, mean discharge rate (MDR), DR variability (DRvar), RT, and the delay between the cumulative spike train and the resultant torque output (neuromechanical delay, NMD) were assessed. The average RT was greater at faster contraction velocities (P = 0.01) but was not affected by pain. At the fastest contraction speed, torque variability and DRvar were reduced (P < 0.05) and MDR was maintained. Conversely, MDR decreased and DRvar and NMD increased significantly during pain at slow contraction speeds (P < 0.05). These results show that reductions in contraction amplitude and increased recruitment of higher-threshold MUs at fast contraction speeds appear to compensate for the inhibitory effect of nociceptive inputs on lower-threshold MUs, allowing the exertion of fast submaximal contractions during pain.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Pain induces changes in motor performance, motor unit recruitment, and rate coding behavior that varies across different contraction speeds. Here we show that that pain reduces motor unit discharge rate and prolongs the neuromechanical delay at slow contraction speeds only. This new evidence suggests that there are differential nociceptive inhibitory effects across the motor unit pool, which allows fast submaximal contractions to be exerted despite the presence of pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Martinez-Valdes
- Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain (CPR Spine), School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Francesco Negro
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Michail Arvanitidis
- Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain (CPR Spine), School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Dario Farina
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Deborah Falla
- Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain (CPR Spine), School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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45
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Exner A, Tapia León I, Mueller EM, Klucken T. Cardiac response in aversive and appetitive olfactory conditioning: Evidence for a valence-independent CS-elicited bradycardia. Psychophysiology 2021; 58:e13912. [PMID: 34388264 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
While the examination of conditioned cardiac responses is well established in human fear conditioning research, comparable studies using less-aversive or rather appetitive unconditioned stimuli (UCS) are sparse and results are mixed. Therefore, the aim of this study was a systematic analysis of cardiac reactions in aversive and appetitive conditioning. Olfactory stimuli were used as unconditioned stimuli as they are suitable reinforcers in both an aversive and an appetitive conditioning offering the opportunity for a comparison between conditioned responses. In total, n = 86 participants took part in both an aversive and an appetitive differential conditioning task with a counterbalanced order across participants. Aversive or appetitive odors, respectively, served as UCS and neutral geometrical figures as CS. Subjective ratings, skin conductance response (SCRs), and evoked cardiac reactions were analyzed and compared between tasks. Conditioned responses in subjective ratings could be observed in both aversive conditioning and appetitive conditioning, while SCRs discriminated between CS+ and CS- in aversive conditioning only. Regarding conditioned cardiac responses, the deceleration for the CS+ was longer than for the CS- in both tasks. In addition, a higher deceleration magnitude and a shorter acceleration for the CS+ as compared to the CS- were found in aversive but not in appetitive conditioning. There were medium-size correlations between aversive and appetitive CRs for subjective ratings and none for physiological responses. The results suggest similarities between cardiac response patterns in aversive and appetitive conditioning, which implies that bradycardia in conditioning might not be fear-specific but presents a valence-independent CS-elicited bradycardia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Exner
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Isabell Tapia León
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Erik M Mueller
- Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Tim Klucken
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
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46
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Logan TK, Walker R. The Impact of Stalking-Related Fear and Gender on Personal Safety Outcomes. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2021; 36:NP7465-NP7487. [PMID: 30741095 DOI: 10.1177/0886260519829280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Research has consistently found that more women worry about their personal safety and feel vulnerable to most every crime compared with men suggesting there is a gender fear gap. Environmental risk and prior victimization history impact concerns about personal safety. However, few studies include stalking as part of the victimization history. Two reasons studies may not include stalking are that adding more questions to a research assessment increases participant burden and measurement of stalking has not always been clear. The current study used a community sample of 2,719 men and women and a five-item stalking assessment to examine the prevalence and impact of stalking and stalking-related fear on concern about personal safety, perceived vulnerability to an attack, perceptions that risk of victimization is higher due to personal characteristics, discomfort when thinking about safety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms controlling for victimization history, age, and environment risk by gender. Overall, 30% of women and 12% of men experienced stalking using the extreme fear standard which is double the national rates. Stalking-related fear, for both women and men, was associated with all of the outcome measures. Furthermore, there were significant main effects of gender after controlling for stalking-related fear on three of the outcomes consistent with the gender fear gap. Based on these results, research studies should consider including stalking as part of the victimization history as it is likely to impact health and mental health outcomes as well as personal safety concerns and responses for both men and women.
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Affiliation(s)
- T K Logan
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA
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47
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Vagal control of the heart decreases during increasing imminence of interoceptive threat in patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7960. [PMID: 33846417 PMCID: PMC8041829 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86867-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Theoretically, panic disorder and agoraphobia pathology can be conceptualized as a cascade of dynamically changing defensive responses to threat cues from inside the body. Guided by this trans-diagnostic model we tested the interaction between defensive activation and vagal control as a marker of prefrontal inhibition of subcortical defensive activation. We investigated ultra-short-term changes of vagally controlled high frequency heart rate variability (HRV) during a standardized threat challenge (entrapment) in n = 232 patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia, and its interaction with various indices of defensive activation. We found a strong inverse relationship between HRV and heart rate during threat, which was stronger at the beginning of exposure. Patients with a strong increase in heart rate showed a deactivation of prefrontal vagal control while patients showing less heart rate acceleration showed an increase in vagal control. Moreover, vagal control collapsed in case of imminent threat, i.e., when body symptoms increase and seem to get out of control. In these cases of defensive action patients either fled from the situation or experienced a panic attack. Active avoidance, panic attacks, and increased sympathetic arousal are associated with an inability to maintain vagal control over the heart suggesting that teaching such regulation strategies during exposure treatment might be helpful to keep prefrontal control, particularly during the transition zone from post-encounter to circa strike defense. Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN80046034.
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48
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Livermore JJA, Klaassen FH, Bramson B, Hulsman AM, Meijer SW, Held L, Klumpers F, de Voogd LD, Roelofs K. Approach-Avoidance Decisions Under Threat: The Role of Autonomic Psychophysiological States. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:621517. [PMID: 33867915 PMCID: PMC8044748 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.621517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Acutely challenging or threatening situations frequently require approach-avoidance decisions. Acute threat triggers fast autonomic changes that prepare the body to freeze, fight or flee. However, such autonomic changes may also influence subsequent instrumental approach-avoidance decisions. Since defensive bodily states are often not considered in value-based decision-making models, it remains unclear how they influence the decision-making process. Here, we aim to bridge this gap by discussing the existing literature on the potential role of threat-induced bodily states on decision making and provide a new neurocomputational framework explaining how these effects can facilitate or bias approach-avoid decisions under threat. Theoretical accounts have stated that threat-induced parasympathetic activity is involved in information gathering and decision making. Parasympathetic dominance over sympathetic activity is particularly seen during threat-anticipatory freezing, an evolutionarily conserved response to threat demonstrated across species and characterized by immobility and bradycardia. Although this state of freezing has been linked to altered information processing and action preparation, a full theoretical treatment of the interactions with value-based decision making has not yet been achieved. Our neural framework, which we term the Threat State/Value Integration (TSI) Model, will illustrate how threat-induced bodily states may impact valuation of competing incentives at three stages of the decision-making process, namely at threat evaluation, integration of rewards and threats, and action initiation. Additionally, because altered parasympathetic activity and decision biases have been shown in anxious populations, we will end with discussing how biases in this system can lead to characteristic patterns of avoidance seen in anxiety-related disorders, motivating future pre-clinical and clinical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- James J. A. Livermore
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Felix H. Klaassen
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Bob Bramson
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Anneloes M. Hulsman
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Sjoerd W. Meijer
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Leslie Held
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Floris Klumpers
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Lycia D. de Voogd
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
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49
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Szeska C, Richter J, Wendt J, Weymar M, Hamm AO. Attentive immobility in the face of inevitable distal threat-Startle potentiation and fear bradycardia as an index of emotion and attention. Psychophysiology 2021; 58:e13812. [PMID: 33759212 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
During fear conditioning, a cue (CS) signals an inevitable distal threat (US) and evokes a conditioned response that can be described as attentive immobility (freezing). The organism remains motionless and monitors the source of danger while startle responses are potentiated, indicating a state of defensive hypervigilance. Although in animals vagally mediated fear bradycardia is also reliably observed under such circumstances, results are mixed in human fear conditioning. Using a single-cue fear conditioning and extinction protocol, we tested cardiac reactivity and startle potentiation indexing low-level defensive strategies in a fear-conditioned (n = 40; paired presentations of CS and US) compared with a non-conditioned control group (n = 40; unpaired presentations of CS and US). Additionally, we assessed shock expectancy ratings on a trial-by-trial basis indexing declarative knowledge of the previous contingencies. Half of each group underwent extinction under sham or active transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), serving as additional proof of concept. We found stronger cardiac deceleration during CS presentation in the fear learning relative to the control group. This learned fear bradycardia was positively correlated with conditioned startle potentiation but not with declarative knowledge of CS-US contingencies. TVNS abolished differences in heart rate changes between both groups and removed the significant correlation between late cardiac deceleration and startle potentiation in the fear learning group. Results suggest, fear-conditioned cues evoke attentive immobility in humans, characterized by cardiac deceleration and startle potentiation. Such defensive response pattern is elicited by cues predicting inevitable distal threat and resembles conditioned fear responses observed in rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Szeska
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Jan Richter
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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50
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Duits P, Baas JMP, Engelhard IM, Richter J, Huisman-van Dijk HM, Limberg-Thiesen A, Heitland I, Hamm AO, Cath DC. Latent class growth analyses reveal overrepresentation of dysfunctional fear conditioning trajectories in patients with anxiety-related disorders compared to controls. J Anxiety Disord 2021; 78:102361. [PMID: 33508747 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent meta-analyses indicated differences in fear acquisition and extinction between patients with anxiety-related disorders and comparison subjects. However, these effects are small and may hold for only a subsample of patients. To investigate individual trajectories in fear acquisition and extinction across patients with anxiety-related disorders (N = 104; before treatment) and comparison subjects (N = 93), data from a previous study (Duits et al., 2017) were re-analyzed using data-driven latent class growth analyses. In this explorative study, subjective fear ratings, shock expectancy ratings and startle responses were used as outcome measures. Fear and expectancy ratings, but not startle data, yielded distinct fear conditioning trajectories across participants. Patients were, compared to controls, overrepresented in two distinct dysfunctional fear conditioning trajectories: impaired safety learning and poor fear extinction to danger cues. The profiling of individual patterns allowed to determine that whereas a subset of patients showed trajectories of dysfunctional fear conditioning, a significant proportion of patients (≥50 %) did not. The strength of trajectory analyses as opposed to group analyses is that it allows the identification of individuals with dysfunctional fear conditioning. Results suggested that dysfunctional fear learning may also be associated with poor treatment outcome, but further research in larger samples is needed to address this question.
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Affiliation(s)
- Puck Duits
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Altrecht Academic Anxiety Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Johanna M P Baas
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Iris M Engelhard
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Altrecht Academic Anxiety Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Jan Richter
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
| | | | - Anke Limberg-Thiesen
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Ivo Heitland
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Danielle C Cath
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Altrecht Academic Anxiety Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen and University of Groningen, GGZ Drenthe, Department of Specialist Training, The Netherlands.
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