101
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Bouman D, Stins JF. Back off! The effect of emotion on backward step initiation. Hum Mov Sci 2017; 57:280-290. [PMID: 28919167 DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2017.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Revised: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 09/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The distance regulation (DR) hypothesis states that actors are inclined to increase their distance from an unpleasant stimulus. The current study investigated the relation between emotion and its effect on the control of backward step initiation, which constitutes an avoidance-like behavior. Participants stepped backward on a force plate in response to neutral, high-arousing pleasant and high-arousing unpleasant visual emotional stimuli. Gait initiation parameters and the results of an exploratory analysis of postural sway were compared across the emotion categories using significance testing and Bayesian statistics. Evidence was found that gait initiation parameters were largely unaffected by emotional conditions. In contrast, the exploratory analysis of postural immobility showed a significant effect: highly arousing stimuli (pleasant and unpleasant) resulted in more postural sway immediately preceding gait initiation compared to neutral stimuli. This suggests that arousal, rather than valence, affects pre-step sway. These results contradict the DR hypothesis, since avoidance gait-initiation in response to unpleasant stimuli was no different compared to pleasant stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniëlle Bouman
- Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, The Netherlands
| | - John F Stins
- Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, The Netherlands.
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102
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How Human Amygdala and Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis May Drive Distinct Defensive Responses. J Neurosci 2017; 37:9645-9656. [PMID: 28893930 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3830-16.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2016] [Revised: 08/10/2017] [Accepted: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to adaptively regulate responses to the proximity of potential danger is critical to survival and imbalance in this system may contribute to psychopathology. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is implicated in defensive responding during uncertain threat anticipation whereas the amygdala may drive responding upon more acute danger. This functional dissociation between the BNST and amygdala is however controversial, and human evidence scarce. Here we used data from two independent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies [n = 108 males and n = 70 (45 females)] to probe how coordination between the BNST and amygdala may regulate responses during shock anticipation and actual shock confrontation. In a subset of participants from Sample 2 (n = 48) we demonstrate that anticipation and confrontation evoke bradycardic and tachycardic responses, respectively. Further, we show that in each sample when going from shock anticipation to the moment of shock confrontation neural activity shifted from a region anatomically consistent with the BNST toward the amygdala. Comparisons of functional connectivity during threat processing showed overlapping yet also consistently divergent functional connectivity profiles for the BNST and amygdala. Finally, childhood maltreatment levels predicted amygdala, but not BNST, hyperactivity during shock anticipation. Our results support an evolutionary conserved, defensive distance-dependent dynamic balance between BNST and amygdala activity. Shifts in this balance may enable shifts in defensive reactions via the demonstrated differential functional connectivity. Our results indicate that early life stress may tip the neural balance toward acute threat responding and via that route predispose for affective disorder.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Previously proposed differential contributions of the BNST and amygdala to fear and anxiety have been recently debated. Despite the significance of understanding their contributions to defensive reactions, there is a paucity of human studies that directly compared these regions on activity and connectivity during threat processing. We show strong evidence for a dissociable role of the BNST and amygdala in threat processing by demonstrating in two large participant samples that they show a distinct temporal signature of threat responding as well as a discriminable pattern of functional connections and differential sensitivity to early life threat.
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103
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Blakemore RL, Vuilleumier P. An Emotional Call to Action: Integrating Affective Neuroscience in Models of Motor Control. EMOTION REVIEW 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/1754073916670020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Intimate relationships between emotion and action have long been acknowledged, yet contemporary theories and experimental research within affective and movement neuroscience have not been linked into a coherent framework bridging these two fields. Accumulating psychological and neuroimaging evidence has, however, brought new insights regarding how emotions affect the preparation, execution, and control of voluntary movement. Here we review main approaches and findings on such emotion–action interactions. To assimilate key emotion concepts of action tendencies and motive states with fundamental constructs of the motor system, we underscore the need for integrating an information-processing approach of motor control into affective neuroscience. This should provide a rich foundation to bridge the two fields, allowing further refinement and empirical testing of emotion theories and better understanding of affective influences in movement disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebekah L. Blakemore
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Patrik Vuilleumier
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Neurology, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland
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104
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Defensive freezing links Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal-axis activity and internalizing symptoms in humans. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2017; 82:83-90. [PMID: 28511048 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2016] [Revised: 05/01/2017] [Accepted: 05/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA)-axis plays an important role in the expression of defensive freezing. Adaptive freezing reactivity, characterized by an immediate increase in acute stress and timely termination upon threat offset or need to act, is essential for adequate stress coping. Blunted HPA-axis activity in animals is associated with blunted freezing reactivity and internalizing symptoms. Despite their potential relevance, it remains unknown whether these mechanisms apply to humans and human psychopathology. Using a well-established method combining electrocardiography and posturography, we assessed freezing before, immediately after, and one hour after a stress induction in 92 human adolescents. In line with animal models, human adolescents showed stress-induced freezing, as quantified by relative reductions in heart rate and body sway after, as compared to before, stress. Moreover, relatively lower basal cortisol was associated with reduced stress-induced freezing reactivity (i.e., less immediate freezing and less recovery). Path analyses showed that decreased freezing recovery in individuals with reduced cortisol levels was associated with increased levels of internalizing symptoms. These findings suggest that reduced freezing recovery may be a promising marker for the etiology of internalizing symptoms.
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105
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Lights … action: Comparison of trauma films for use in the trauma film paradigm. Behav Res Ther 2017; 93:67-77. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2017.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2016] [Revised: 02/18/2017] [Accepted: 02/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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106
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Karos K, Meulders A, Gatzounis R, Seelen H, Geers R, Vlaeyen J. Fear of pain changes movement: Motor behaviour following the acquisition of pain-related fear. Eur J Pain 2017; 21:1432-1442. [DOI: 10.1002/ejp.1044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- K. Karos
- Research Group Health Psychology; University of Leuven; Belgium
| | - A. Meulders
- Research Group Health Psychology; University of Leuven; Belgium
- Center for Excellence on Generalization Research in Health and Psychopathology; University of Leuven; Belgium
| | - R. Gatzounis
- Research Group Health Psychology; University of Leuven; Belgium
- Department of Clinical Psychological Sciences; Maastricht University; The Netherlands
| | - H.A.M. Seelen
- Adelante Centre of Expertise in Rehabilitation and Audiology; Hoensbroek The Netherlands
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Research School CAPHRI; Maastricht University; The Netherlands
| | - R.P.G. Geers
- Adelante Centre of Expertise in Rehabilitation and Audiology; Hoensbroek The Netherlands
| | - J.W.S. Vlaeyen
- Research Group Health Psychology; University of Leuven; Belgium
- Center for Excellence on Generalization Research in Health and Psychopathology; University of Leuven; Belgium
- Department of Clinical Psychological Sciences; Maastricht University; The Netherlands
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107
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de Heer BA, Jones LC. Investigating the Self-Protective Potential of Immobility in Victims of Rape. VIOLENCE AND VICTIMS 2017; 32:210-229. [PMID: 28130899 DOI: 10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-15-00099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Using a nationwide sample of reported rape cases collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI; 389 victims; 89% stranger rapes), this study investigates assumptions about self-protective behaviors for rape victims. Past research on victim resistance strategies often specifies active resistance as self-protective, inadvertently underestimating the potential for biologically based reactions, such as tonic immobility, to be self-protective as well. Results confirm that rape victims who were verbally and physically immobile during the attack were less likely to be injured and have force used against them. In addition, victims who were verbally immobile suffered a less severe attack. The results indicate that immobility may protect the victim from increased injury, force, and severity of the attack. Implications for the legal and public definition of consent are discussed.
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108
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Emmerson MG, Spencer KA. Long-term effects of adolescent stress on neophobic behaviors in zebra finches are modulated by social context when in adulthood. Horm Behav 2017; 90:48-55. [PMID: 28167135 PMCID: PMC5415300 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Revised: 01/30/2017] [Accepted: 02/01/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Experiencing stress during adolescence can increase neophobic behaviors in adulthood, but most tests have been conducted in the absence of conspecifics. Conspecifics can modulate responses to stressors, for example by acting as 'social buffers' to attenuate the aversive appraisal of stressors. Here, we investigate the long-term effects of adolescent stress on the behavioral responses to novel stimuli (a mild stressor) across social contexts in an affiliative passerine bird, the zebra finch. During early (days 40-60) or late (days 65-85) adolescence the birds (n=66) were dosed with either saline or the hormone corticosterone (CORT). CORT was given in order to mimic a physiological stress response and saline was given as a control. In adulthood, the birds' behavioral responses to a novel environment were recorded in both the presence and absence of conspecifics. An acute CORT response was also quantified in adolescence and adulthood. Our findings show clear evidence of social context mediating any long-term effects of adolescent stress. In the presence of familiar conspecifics no treatment effects were detected. Individually, birds dosed with CORT in early adolescence were slower to enter a novel environment, spent more time perching in the same novel environment, and, if female, engaged in more risk assessment. Birds dosed in late adolescence were unaffected. No treatment effects were detected on CORT, but adolescents had a higher CORT concentration than adults. Our results are the first to suggest that familiar conspecifics in adulthood can buffer the long-term effects of stress that occurred during early adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael G Emmerson
- University of St Andrews, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, St Mary's Quad, South Street, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, Scotland, United Kingdom.
| | - Karen A Spencer
- University of St Andrews, School of Psychology & Neuroscience, St Mary's Quad, South Street, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, Scotland, United Kingdom.
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109
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Niermann HCM, Figner B, Roelofs K. Individual differences in defensive stress-responses: the potential relevance for psychopathology. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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110
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Borgomaneri S, Vitale F, Avenanti A. Behavioral inhibition system sensitivity enhances motor cortex suppression when watching fearful body expressions. Brain Struct Funct 2017; 222:3267-3282. [DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1403-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2016] [Accepted: 03/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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111
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Grillon C, Robinson OJ, O’Connell K, Davis A, Alvarez G, Pine DS, Ernst M. Clinical anxiety promotes excessive response inhibition. Psychol Med 2017; 47:484-494. [PMID: 27776562 PMCID: PMC6100803 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291716002555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Laboratory tasks to delineate anxiety disorder features are used to refine classification and inform our understanding of etiological mechanisms. The present study examines laboratory measures of response inhibition, specifically the inhibition of a pre-potent motor response, in clinical anxiety. Data on associations between anxiety and response inhibition remain inconsistent, perhaps because of dissociable effects of clinical anxiety and experimentally manipulated state anxiety. Few studies directly assess the independent and interacting effects of these two anxiety types (state v. disorder) on response inhibition. The current study accomplished this goal, by manipulating state anxiety in healthy and clinically anxious individuals while they complete a response inhibition task. METHOD The study employs the threat-of-shock paradigm, one of the best-established manipulations for robustly increasing state anxiety. Participants included 82 adults (41 healthy; 41 patients with an anxiety disorder). A go/nogo task with highly frequent go trials was administered during alternating periods of safety and shock threat. Signal detection theory was used to quantify response bias and signal-detection sensitivity. RESULTS There were independent effects of anxiety and clinical anxiety on response inhibition. In both groups, heightened anxiety facilitated response inhibition, leading to reduced nogo commission errors. Compared with the healthy group, clinical anxiety was associated with excessive response inhibition and increased go omission errors in both the safe and threat conditions. CONCLUSIONS Response inhibition and its impact on go omission errors appear to be a promising behavioral marker of clinical anxiety. These results have implications for a dimensional view of clinical anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. Grillon
- Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - O. J. Robinson
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - K. O’Connell
- Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - A. Davis
- Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - G. Alvarez
- Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - D. S. Pine
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - M. Ernst
- Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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112
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Volchan E, Rocha-Rego V, Bastos AF, Oliveira JM, Franklin C, Gleiser S, Berger W, Souza GGL, Oliveira L, David IA, Erthal FS, Pereira MG, Figueira I. Immobility reactions under threat: A contribution to human defensive cascade and PTSD. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 76:29-38. [PMID: 28131873 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2016] [Revised: 01/18/2017] [Accepted: 01/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Violence exacts a burden on public health. Gun violence is a major trigger for motor defensive reactions in humans and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is its main psychiatric sequela. However, studies of the human defensive cascade, especially the motor reactions, are at an early stage. This review focuses on studies that employ stabilometry, a methodology that assesses whole body motor reactions, to address defensive behaviors to violence-related threats. Special attention is given to three reactions: "attentive immobility", "immobility under attack" and "tonic immobility", with emphasis on the latter - a peritraumatic reaction which has been strongly associated with the severity of PTSD. These reactions are characterized by reduced body sway and bradycardia, except tonic immobility that presents robust tachycardia. The advances made by investigations into the immobility reactions of the human defensive cascade contribute to helping to bridge the gap between human and non-human species. Furthermore, progresses in basic research to objectively monitor motor defensive reactions under threat can help to develop a dimensional, trans-diagnostic approach to PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Volchan
- Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - V Rocha-Rego
- Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - A F Bastos
- Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - J M Oliveira
- Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - C Franklin
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - S Gleiser
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - W Berger
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - G G L Souza
- Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Brazil
| | - L Oliveira
- Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
| | - I A David
- Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
| | - F S Erthal
- Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - M G Pereira
- Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
| | - I Figueira
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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113
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Hagenaars MA, Holmes EA, Klaassen F, Elzinga B. Tetris and Word games lead to fewer intrusive memories when applied several days after analogue trauma. Eur J Psychotraumatol 2017; 8:1386959. [PMID: 29152159 PMCID: PMC5678449 DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2017.1386959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2017] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Intrusive trauma memories are a key symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), so disrupting their recurrence is highly important. Intrusion development was hindered by visuospatial interventions administered up to 24 hours after analogue trauma. It is unknown whether interventions can be applied later, and whether modality or working-memory load are crucial factors. Objectives: This study tested: (1) whether a visuospatial task would lead to fewer intrusions compared to a reactivation-only group when applied after memory reactivation four days after analogue trauma exposure (extended replication), (2) whether both tasks (i.e. one aimed to be visuospatial, one more verbal) would lead to fewer intrusions than the reactivation-only group (intervention effect), and (3) whether supposed task modality (visuospatial or verbal) is a critical component (modality effect). Method: Fifty-four participants were randomly assigned to reactivation+Tetris (visuospatial), reactivation+Word games (verbal), or reactivation-only (no task). They watched an aversive film (day 0) and recorded intrusive memories of the film in diary A. On day 4, memory was reactivated, after which participants played Tetris, Word games, or had no task for 10 minutes. They then kept a second diary (B). Informative hypotheses were evaluated using Bayes factors. Results: Reactivation+Tetris and reactivation+Word games resulted in relatively fewer intrusions from the last day of diary A to the first day of diary B than reactivation-only (objective 1 and 2). Thus, both tasks were effective even when applied days after analogue trauma. Reactivation-only was not effective. Reactivation+Word games appeared to result in fewer intrusions than reactivation+Tetris (objective 3; modality effect), but this evidence was weak. Explorative analyses showed that Word games were more difficult than Tetris. Conclusions: Applying a task four days after the trauma film (during memory reconsolidation) was effective. The modality versus working-memory load issue is inconclusive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muriel A Hagenaars
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.,Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Emily A Holmes
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fayette Klaassen
- Department of Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Bernet Elzinga
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands.,Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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114
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Abstract
Dissociation involves disruptions of usually integrated functions of consciousness, perception, memory, identity, and affect (e.g., depersonalization, derealization, numbing, amnesia, and analgesia). While the precise neurobiological underpinnings of dissociation remain elusive, neuroimaging studies in disorders, characterized by high dissociation (e.g., depersonalization/derealization disorder (DDD), dissociative identity disorder (DID), dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder (D-PTSD)), have provided valuable insight into brain alterations possibly underlying dissociation. Neuroimaging studies in borderline personality disorder (BPD), investigating links between altered brain function/structure and dissociation, are still relatively rare. In this article, we provide an overview of neurobiological models of dissociation, primarily based on research in DDD, DID, and D-PTSD. Based on this background, we review recent neuroimaging studies on associations between dissociation and altered brain function and structure in BPD. These studies are discussed in the context of earlier findings regarding methodological differences and limitations and concerning possible implications for future research and the clinical setting.
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115
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Fragkaki I, Roelofs K, Stins J, Jongedijk RA, Hagenaars MA. Reduced Freezing in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Patients while Watching Affective Pictures. Front Psychiatry 2017; 8:39. [PMID: 28352237 PMCID: PMC5348645 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2016] [Accepted: 02/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Besides fight and flight responses, animals and humans may respond to threat with freezing, a response characterized by bradycardia and physical immobility. Risk assessment is proposed to be enhanced during freezing to promote optimal decision making. Indeed, healthy participants showed freezing-like responses to threat cues. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients are characterized by hypervigilance and increased threat responsiveness. We propose that threat responses will be characterized by decreased freezing in PTSD, eliminating possibilities for rejecting cognitive distortions, such as harm expectancy, and thereby contributing to the maintenance of the disorder. However, freezing responses have hardly been investigated in PTSD. Using a stabilometric platform to assess body sway as an indicator of freezing-like behavior, we examined whether veterans with PTSD would show diminished freezing responses to unpleasant versus neutral and pleasant pictures. Fourteen PTSD patients and 14 healthy matched controls watched the pictures, while body sway and heart rate (HR) were continuously assessed. Replicating previous findings, healthy controls showed decreased body sway and HR in response to unpleasant pictures, indicative of freezing-like behavior. In contrast, this response pattern was not observed in PTSD patients. The results may indicate a reduced freezing response in PTSD. As reduced freezing may hinder appropriate risk assessment, it may be an important factor in the maintenance of PTSD. Future research might clarify whether impaired freezing is a PTSD-specific or a transdiagnostic symptom, being present in threat-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iro Fragkaki
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University , Nijmegen , Netherlands
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Behavioural Science Institute and Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University , Nijmegen , Netherlands
| | - John Stins
- Faculty of Behaviour and Movement Sciences, Department of Human Movement Sciences, MOVE Research Institute Amsterdam, VU University , Amsterdam , Netherlands
| | - Ruud A Jongedijk
- Foundation Centrum '45, Arq Psychotrauma Expert Group , Diemen , Netherlands
| | - Muriel A Hagenaars
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University , Utrecht , Netherlands
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116
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Ahrens LM, Pauli P, Reif A, Mühlberger A, Langs G, Aalderink T, Wieser MJ. Fear conditioning and stimulus generalization in patients with social anxiety disorder. J Anxiety Disord 2016; 44:36-46. [PMID: 27728838 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2015] [Revised: 08/04/2016] [Accepted: 10/04/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Although overgeneralization seems to be a hallmark of several anxiety disorders, this until now has not been investigated in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Therefore, we examined fear generalization in 26 SAD patients and 29 healthy controls (HC) using two faces as conditioned stimuli (CS+, CS-), and a loud scream and a fearful face as unconditioned stimulus (US). Generalization was tested by presenting both CS and four morphs of the two faces (generalization stimuli [GSs]), while ratings, heart rate (HR) and skin conductance responses (SCR) were recorded. Results revealed that SAD patients rated all stimuli as less pleasant and more arousing compared to HC. Moreover, ratings and SCR indicated that both groups generalized their acquired fear from the CS+ to GSs. Remarkably, only SAD patients showed generalization in HR responses (fear bradycardia). Overall, SAD seems not to be characterized by strong overgeneralization but discrepancies in fear responses to both conditioned and generalized threat stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lea M Ahrens
- Department of Psychology I, University of Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Paul Pauli
- Department of Psychology I, University of Würzburg, Germany; Center of Mental Health, Medical Faculty, University of Würzburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Reif
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Andreas Mühlberger
- Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Regensburg, Germany
| | | | | | - Matthias J Wieser
- Department of Psychology I, University of Würzburg, Germany; Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
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117
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Aversive stimuli exacerbate defensive motor behaviour in motor conversion disorder. Neuropsychologia 2016; 93:229-241. [PMID: 27842291 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2016] [Revised: 10/06/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Conversion disorder or functional neurological symptom disorder (FND) can affect the voluntary motor system, without an organic cause. Functional symptoms are thought to be generated unconsciously, arising from underlying psychological stressors. However, attempts to demonstrate a direct relationship between the limbic system and disrupted motor function in FND are lacking. We tested whether negative affect would exacerbate alterations of motor control and corresponding brain activations in individuals with FND. Ten patients and ten healthy controls produced an isometric precision-grip contraction at 10% of maximum force while either viewing visual feedback of their force output, or unpleasant or pleasant emotional images (without feedback). Force magnitude was continuously recorded together with change in brain activity using fMRI. For controls, force output decayed from the target level while viewing pleasant and unpleasant images. Patients however, maintained force at the target level without decay while viewing unpleasant images, indicating a pronounced effect of negative affect on force output in FND. This emotional modulation of force control was associated with different brain activation patterns between groups. Contrasting the unpleasant with the pleasant condition, controls showed increased activity in the inferior frontal cortex and pre-supplementary motor area, whereas patients had greater activity in the cerebellum (vermis), posterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampus. Engagement of a cerebellar-limbic network in patients is consistent with heightened processing of emotional salience, and supports the role of the cerebellum in freezing responses in the presence of aversive events. These data highlight a possible neural circuit through which psychological stressors elicit defensive behaviour and modulate motor function in FND.
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118
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Fragkaki I, Stins J, Roelofs K, Jongedijk RA, Hagenaars MA. Tonic immobility differentiates stress responses in PTSD. Brain Behav 2016; 6:e00546. [PMID: 27843699 PMCID: PMC5102644 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2016] [Revised: 07/06/2016] [Accepted: 07/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Tonic immobility (TI) is a state of physical immobility associated with extreme stress and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is unknown whether TI is associated with a distinct actual stress response, i.e., objective immobility measured by a stabilometric platform. This study made a first step in exploring this as well as differences in body sway responses between PTSD patients and healthy controls. We hypothesized that PTSD would be related to increased body sway under stress, whereas TI would be related to decreased body sway under stress. METHODS Eye closure was selected as a PTSD-relevant stress induction procedure. Body sway and heart rate (HR) were measured in 12 PTSD patients and 12 healthy controls in four conditions: (1) maintaining a stable stance with eyes open, (2) with eyes closed, (3) during a mental arithmetic task with eyes open, and (4) with eyes closed. RESULTS As predicted, PTSD patients showed increased body sway from eyes open to eyes closed compared to controls and this effect was eliminated by executing the arithmetic task. Most importantly, retrospective self-reported TI was associated with lower body sway increases in PTSD and higher body sway decreases in controls from eyes-open to eyes-closed conditions. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary findings suggest that eye closure has a different effect on PTSD patients than controls and that high self-reported TI might indicate a distinct stress response pattern, i.e., a proneness for immobility. It may be relevant to take such individual differences in stress-response into account in PTSD treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iro Fragkaki
- Behavioural Science Institute Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen The Netherlands
| | - John Stins
- Department of Human Movement Sciences Faculty of Behaviour and Movement Sciences MOVE Research Institute Amsterdam VU University Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Behavioural Science Institute and Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behavior Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen The Netherlands
| | - Ruud A Jongedijk
- Foundation Centrum '45, Arq Psychotrauma Expert Group Oegstgeest The Netherlands
| | - Muriel A Hagenaars
- Department of Clinical Psychology Utrecht University Utrecht The Netherlands
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119
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Grillon C, Robinson OJ, Krimsky M, O'Connell K, Alvarez G, Ernst M. Anxiety-mediated facilitation of behavioral inhibition: Threat processing and defensive reactivity during a go/no-go task. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 17:259-266. [PMID: 27642657 DOI: 10.1037/emo0000214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Anxiety can be broken down into multiple facets including behavioral components, such as defensive reactivity, and cognitive components, such as distracting anxious thoughts. In a previous study, we showed that anticipation of unpredictable shocks facilitated response inhibition to infrequent no-go trials during a go/no-go task. The present study extends this work to examine the distinct contribution of defensive reactivity, measures with fear-potentiated startle, and anxious thought, assessed with thought probes, on go and no-go performance. Consistent with our prior findings, shock anticipation facilitated response inhibition (i.e., reduced errors of commission) on the no-go trials. Regression analyses showed that (a) no-go accuracy was positively associated with fear-potentiated startle and negatively associated with threat-related/task-unrelated thoughts and (b) go accuracy correlated negatively with fear-potentiated startle. Thus, while the present findings confirm the influence of anxiety on response inhibition, they also show that such influence reflects the balance between the positive effect of defensive reactivity and the negative effect of distracting anxious thoughts. (PsycINFO Database Record
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120
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Koba S, Inoue R, Watanabe T. Role played by periaqueductal gray neurons in parasympathetically mediated fear bradycardia in conscious rats. Physiol Rep 2016; 4:e12831. [PMID: 27335434 PMCID: PMC4923232 DOI: 10.14814/phy2.12831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2016] [Revised: 05/19/2016] [Accepted: 05/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Freezing, a characteristic pattern of defensive behavior elicited by fear, is associated with a decrease in the heart rate. Central mechanisms underlying fear bradycardia are poorly understood. The periaqueductal gray (PAG) in the midbrain is known to contribute to autonomic cardiovascular adjustments associated with various emotional behaviors observed during active or passive defense reactions. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role played by PAG neurons in eliciting fear bradycardia. White noise sound (WNS) exposure at 90 dB induced freezing behavior and elicited bradycardia in conscious rats. The WNS exposure-elicited bradycardia was mediated parasympathetically because intravenous administration of atropine abolished the bradycardia (P < 0.05). Moreover, WNS exposure-elicited bradycardia was mediated by neuronal activation of the lateral/ventrolateral PAG (l/vlPAG) because bilateral microinjection of muscimol, a GABAA agonist, into the l/vlPAG significantly suppressed the bradycardia. It is noted that muscimol microinjected bilaterally into the dorsolateral PAG had no effect on WNS exposure-elicited bradycardia. Furthermore, retrograde neuronal tracing experiments combined with immunohistochemistry demonstrated that a number of l/vlPAG neurons that send direct projections to the nucleus ambiguus (NA) in the medulla, a major origin of parasympathetic preganglionic neurons to the heart, were activated by WNS exposure. Based on these findings, we propose that the l/vlPAG-NA monosynaptic pathway transmits fear-driven central signals, which elicit bradycardia through parasympathetic outflow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satoshi Koba
- Division of Integrative Physiology, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago Tottori, Japan
| | - Ryo Inoue
- Division of Integrative Physiology, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago Tottori, Japan
| | - Tatsuo Watanabe
- Division of Integrative Physiology, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago Tottori, Japan
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121
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Riskind JH, Sagliano L, Trojano L, Conson M. Dysfunctional Freezing Responses to Approaching Stimuli in Persons with a Looming Cognitive Style for Physical Threats. Front Psychol 2016; 7:521. [PMID: 27148129 PMCID: PMC4835712 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Immobilizing freezing responses are associated with anxiety and may be etiologically related to several anxiety disorders. Although recent studies have sought to investigate the underlying mechanisms in freezing responses that are so problematic in many forms of anxiety, cognitive factors related to anxiety have not been investigated. This study was designed to investigate the potential moderating role of a well-documented cognitive vulnerability to anxiety, the Looming Cognitive Style (i.e., LCS; Riskind et al., 2000), which assesses the extent to which individuals tend to routinely interpret ambiguous threats (e.g., physical or social threats) in a biased manner as approaching. We assessed participants' Reaction Times (RTs) when they made judgments about images of animals that differed in threat valence (threat or neutral) and motion direction (approach or recede). As expected, LCS for concerns about the approach of physical dangers appeared to moderate freeze reactions. Individuals who were high on this LCS factor tended to generally exhibit a freeze-response (slower RTs) and this was independent of the threat valence or motion direction of the animals. These general freezing reactions were in stark contrast to those of individuals who were low on the LCS factor for concerns about the approach of physical dangers. These participants tended to exhibit more selective and functional freezing responses that occurred only to threatening animals with approach motion; they did not exhibit freezing to neutral stimuli or any stimuli with receding motion. These findings did not appear to be explicable by a general slowing of RTs for the participants with high LCS. Moreover, the LCS factor for concerns about social threats (such as rejection or embarrassment) was not related to differences in freezing; there was also no additional relationship of freezing to behavioral inhibition scores on the Behavioral Inhibition System and the Behavioral Activation System Scales (BIS/BAS). It may prove fruitful to further explore cognitive factors related to anxiety to develop a more comprehensive understanding of how these factors are associated with anxiety-related freezing responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- John H Riskind
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - Laura Sagliano
- Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples Caserta, Italy
| | - Luigi Trojano
- Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples Caserta, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Conson
- Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples Caserta, Italy
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122
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Bennett AM, Longhi JN, Chin EH, Burness G, Kerr LR, Murray DL. Acute changes in whole body corticosterone in response to perceived predation risk: A mechanism for anti-predator behavior in anurans? Gen Comp Endocrinol 2016; 229:62-6. [PMID: 26944484 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.02.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2015] [Revised: 02/19/2016] [Accepted: 02/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Anuran larvae exhibit behavioral and morphological plasticity in response to perceived predation risk, although response type and magnitude varies through ontogeny. Increased baseline corticosterone is related to morphological response to predation risk, whereas the mechanism behind behavioral plasticity remains enigmatic. Since tadpoles alter behavioral responses to risk immediately upon exposure to predator cues, we characterized changes in whole body corticosterone at an acute (<1h post-exposure) timescale. Tadpoles (Lithobates sylvaticus) at Gosner stage (GS) 25 (free-swimming, feeding larvae) increased corticosterone levels to a peak at 10-20min post-exposure to predator cues, paralleling the acute stress response observed among other taxa. Tadpoles reared for 3weeks (mean GS29) with predation risk (caged, fed Aeshnid dragonfly nymph) had lower corticosterone levels at 10-20min post-exposure to dragonfly cues than predator-naïve controls, suggesting habituation, although the magnitude of increase was markedly diminished when compared to younger tadpoles (GS25). These experiments represent the first assessment of tadpole hormonal responses to predation risk at the acute timescale. Further research is required to establish causality between hormonal responses and behavioral changes, and to examine how and why responsiveness changes over ontogeny and with chronic exposure to risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M Bennett
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada.
| | - Jessica N Longhi
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada
| | - Eunice H Chin
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada
| | - Gary Burness
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada; Biology Department, Trent University, Life & Health Science Building, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada
| | - Leslie R Kerr
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada; Biology Department, Trent University, Life & Health Science Building, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada
| | - Dennis L Murray
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada; Biology Department, Trent University, Life & Health Science Building, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada
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123
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Bastos AF, Vieira AS, Oliveira JM, Oliveira L, Pereira MG, Figueira I, Erthal FS, Volchan E. Stop or move: Defensive strategies in humans. Behav Brain Res 2016; 302:252-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.01.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2015] [Revised: 01/12/2016] [Accepted: 01/17/2016] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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124
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Ready and waiting: Freezing as active action preparation under threat. Neurosci Lett 2016; 619:182-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.03.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2016] [Revised: 03/13/2016] [Accepted: 03/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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125
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Bethell EJ, Holmes A, MacLarnon A, Semple S. Emotion Evaluation and Response Slowing in a Non-Human Primate: New Directions for Cognitive Bias Measures of Animal Emotion? Behav Sci (Basel) 2016; 6:bs6010002. [PMID: 26761035 PMCID: PMC4810036 DOI: 10.3390/bs6010002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2015] [Revised: 12/22/2015] [Accepted: 12/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The cognitive bias model of animal welfare assessment is informed by studies with humans demonstrating that the interaction between emotion and cognition can be detected using laboratory tasks. A limitation of cognitive bias tasks is the amount of training required by animals prior to testing. A potential solution is to use biologically relevant stimuli that trigger innate emotional responses. Here; we develop a new method to assess emotion in rhesus macaques; informed by paradigms used with humans: emotional Stroop; visual cueing and; in particular; response slowing. In humans; performance on a simple cognitive task can become impaired when emotional distractor content is displayed. Importantly; responses become slower in anxious individuals in the presence of mild threat; a pattern not seen in non-anxious individuals; who are able to effectively process and disengage from the distractor. Here; we present a proof-of-concept study; demonstrating that rhesus macaques show slowing of responses in a simple touch-screen task when emotional content is introduced; but only when they had recently experienced a presumably stressful veterinary inspection. Our results indicate the presence of a subtle “cognitive freeze” response; the measurement of which may provide a means of identifying negative shifts in emotion in animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Bethell
- Research Centre in Brain and Behaviour, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, James Parsons Building, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK.
| | - Amanda Holmes
- Centre for Research in Cognition, Emotion and Interaction, University of Roehampton, London SW15 4JD, UK.
| | - Ann MacLarnon
- Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Interdisciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, London SW15 4JD, UK.
| | - Stuart Semple
- Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Interdisciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, London SW15 4JD, UK.
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126
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Effect of arousal on perception as studied through the lens of the motor correlates of sexual arousal. Behav Brain Sci 2016; 39:e217. [PMID: 28347369 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x15001880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The study of sexual arousal is at the interface of affective and social neurosciences. Recent results regarding the motor correlates of sexual arousal demonstrating an early freezing response are in perfect accordance with the GANE (glutamate amplifies noradrenergic effects) model's sustaining the double role of the arousal dimension on emotional processing.
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127
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Abstract
This article suggests a way of defining emotion on the basis of the work of John Dewey and Nina Bull. Oddly, emotions go undefined in most current emotion research, creating chaos. Unlike Dewey, Bull provided a useful example of the application of her definition to a particular emotion: grief. This step enables the reader to understand her theory, even though, like Dewey, much of her discussion is not clear or neglects crucial matters. She provides a 2-part model of grief, but only 1 part for anger and fear. However, her discussion of the mammalian pattern of fight or flight/freeze can be taken as a first step toward the second part. She leaves out pride, shame, and “efatigue” (excessive fatigue) entirely, which this article introduces. She also doesn't consider why emotions can be experienced as “good” or “bad.” The drama theory of emotions developed in the theater suggests that backlogged emotion can either be merely relived (a bad grief, anger, shame, efatigue, or fear) or, at what is called aesthetic distance, as a relief from pain. Examples are given of the author's experience of a good anger, fear, shame, and efatigue. This approach suggests that the idea of negative emotions is an illusion: experiencing emotions may be like breathing; it is only troublesome when obstructed. Even if true, it will difficult for it to be considered because the belief that some emotions are inherently negative seems to be a powerfully defended trope in modern societies.
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128
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Morais-Silva G, Fernandes-Santos J, Moreira-Silva D, Marin MT. Concomitant stress potentiates the preference for, and consumption of, ethanol induced by chronic pre-exposure to ethanol. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 49:e5009. [PMID: 26628398 PMCID: PMC4681418 DOI: 10.1590/1414-431x20155009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2015] [Accepted: 09/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Ethanol abuse is linked to several acute and chronic injuries that can lead to health problems. Ethanol addiction is one of the most severe diseases linked to the abuse of this drug. Symptoms of ethanol addiction include compulsive substance intake and withdrawal syndrome. Stress exposure has an important role in addictive behavior for many drugs of abuse (including ethanol), but the consequences of stress and ethanol in the organism when these factors are concomitant results in a complex interaction. We investigated the effects of concomitant, chronic administration of ethanol and stress exposure on the withdrawal and consumption of, as well as the preference for, ethanol in mice. Male Swiss mice (30-35 g, 8-10 per group) were exposed to an ethanol liquid diet as the only source of food for 15 days. In the final 5 days, they were exposed to forced swimming stress. Twelve hours after removal of the ethanol liquid diet, animals were evaluated for ethanol withdrawal by measuring anxiety-related behaviors and locomotor activity. Twenty-four hours after evaluation of ethanol withdrawal, they were evaluated for voluntary consumption of ethanol in a "three-bottle choice" paradigm. Mice exposed to chronic consumption of ethanol had decreased locomotor activity during withdrawal. Contrary to our expectations, a concomitant forced swimming stress did not aggravate ethanol withdrawal. Nevertheless, simultaneous ethanol administration and stress exposure increased voluntary consumption of ethanol, mainly solutions containing high concentrations of ethanol. These results showed that stressful situations during ethanol intake may aggravate specific addiction-related behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Morais-Silva
- Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil
| | - J Fernandes-Santos
- Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil
| | - D Moreira-Silva
- Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil
| | - M T Marin
- Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil
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129
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Montoya ER, van Honk J, Bos PA, Terburg D. Dissociated neural effects of cortisol depending on threat escapability. Hum Brain Mapp 2015; 36:4304-16. [PMID: 26248899 PMCID: PMC6869485 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2015] [Revised: 07/13/2015] [Accepted: 07/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolution has provided us with a highly flexible neuroendocrine threat system which, depending on threat imminence, switches between active escape and passive freezing. Cortisol, the "stress-hormone", is thought to play an important role in both fear behaviors, but the exact mechanisms are not understood. Using pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging we investigated how cortisol modulates the brain's fear systems when humans are under virtual-predator attack. We show dissociated neural effects of cortisol depending on whether escape from threat is possible. During inescapable threat cortisol reduces fear-related midbrain activity, whereas in anticipation of active escape cortisol boosts activity in the frontal salience network (insula and anterior cingulate cortex), which is involved in autonomic control, visceral perception and motivated action. Our findings suggest that cortisol adjusts the human neural threat system from passive fear to active escape, which illuminates the hormone's crucial role in the adaptive flexibility of fear behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estrella R. Montoya
- Department of Experimental PsychologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtCS3584The Netherlands
| | - Jack van Honk
- Department of Experimental PsychologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtCS3584The Netherlands
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Cape TownCape Town7925South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape TownCape Town7925South Africa
| | - Peter A. Bos
- Department of Experimental PsychologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtCS3584The Netherlands
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Cape TownCape Town7925South Africa
| | - David Terburg
- Department of Experimental PsychologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtCS3584The Netherlands
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Cape TownCape Town7925South Africa
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130
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Niermann HCM, Ly V, Smeekens S, Figner B, Riksen-Walraven JM, Roelofs K. Infant attachment predicts bodily freezing in adolescence: evidence from a prospective longitudinal study. Front Behav Neurosci 2015; 9:263. [PMID: 26557062 PMCID: PMC4617177 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Early life-stress, particularly maternal deprivation, is associated with long-lasting deviations in animals’ freezing responses. Given the relevance of freezing for stress-coping, translational research is needed to examine the relation between insecure infant-parent attachment and bodily freezing-like behavior in humans. Therefore, we investigated threat-related reductions in body sway (indicative of freezing-like behavior) in 14-year-old adolescents (N = 79), for whom attachment security was earlier assessed in infancy. As expected, insecure (vs. secure) attachment was associated with less body sway for angry vs. neutral faces. This effect remained when controlling for intermediate life events. These results suggest that the long-lasting effects of early negative caregiving experiences on the human stress and threat systems extend to the primary defensive reaction of freezing. Additionally, we replicated earlier work in adults, by observing a significant correlation (in adolescents assessed as securely attached) between subjective state anxiety and reduced body sway in response to angry vs. neutral faces. Together, this research opens venues to start exploring the role of freezing in the development of human psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah C M Niermann
- Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University Netherlands ; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Netherlands
| | - Verena Ly
- Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University Netherlands ; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Netherlands
| | - Sanny Smeekens
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Open University of the Netherlands Heerlen, Netherlands
| | - Bernd Figner
- Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University Netherlands ; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Netherlands
| | | | - Karin Roelofs
- Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University Netherlands ; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Netherlands
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131
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Early changes in corticospinal excitability when seeing fearful body expressions. Sci Rep 2015; 5:14122. [PMID: 26388400 PMCID: PMC4585670 DOI: 10.1038/srep14122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 08/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Quick inhibition of approach tendencies in response to signals of potential threats is thought to promote survival. However, little is known about the effect of viewing fearful expressions on the early dynamics of the human motor system. We used the high temporal resolution of single-pulse and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the motor cortex to assess corticospinal excitability (CSE) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) during observation of happy, fearful and neutral body postures. To test motor circuits involved in approach tendencies, CSE and ICF were recorded from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI), a muscle involved in grasping, and the abductor pollicis brevis (APB), which served as a control. To test early motor dynamics, CSE and ICF were measured 70–90 ms after stimulus onset. We found a selective reduction in CSE in the FDI when participants observed fearful body expressions. No changes in ICF or in the excitability of APB were detected. Our study establishes an extremely rapid motor system reaction to observed fearful body expressions. This motor modulation involves corticospinal downstream projections but not cortical excitatory mechanisms, and appears to reflect an inhibition of hand grasping. Our results suggest a fast visuo-motor route that may rapidly inhibit inappropriate approaching actions.
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132
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Rosen JB, Asok A, Chakraborty T. The smell of fear: innate threat of 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline, a single molecule component of a predator odor. Front Neurosci 2015; 9:292. [PMID: 26379483 PMCID: PMC4548190 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2015] [Accepted: 08/04/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last several years, the importance of understanding what innate threat and fear is, in addition to learning of threat and fear, has become evident. Odors from predators are ecologically relevant stimuli used by prey animals as warnings for the presence of danger. Of importance, these odors are not necessarily noxious or painful, but they have innate threat-like properties. This review summarizes the progress made on the behavioral and neuroanatomical fundamentals of innate fear of the predator odor, 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT), a component of fox feces. TMT is one of several single molecule components of predator odors that have been isolated in the last several years. Isolation of these single molecules has allowed for rapid advances in delineating the behavioral constraints and selective neuroanatomical pathways of predator odor induced fear. In naïve mice and rats, TMT induces a number of fear and defensive behaviors, including robust freezing, indicating it is an innate threat stimulus. However, there are a number of behavioral constraints that we do not yet understand. Similarly, while some of the early olfactory sensory pathways for TMT-induced fear are being delineated, the pathways from olfactory systems to emotional and motor output regions are less well understood. This review will focus on what we know and what we still need to learn about the behavior and neuroanatomy of TMT-induced fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey B. Rosen
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of DelawareNewark, DE, USA
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133
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Exploring the Structure of Human Defensive Responses from Judgments of Threat Scenarios. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0133682. [PMID: 26296201 PMCID: PMC4546605 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2015] [Accepted: 06/30/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
How humans react to threats is a topic of broad theoretical importance, and also relevant for understanding anxiety disorders. Many animal threat reactions exhibit a common structure, a finding supported by human evaluations of written threat scenarios that parallel patterns of rodent defensive behavior to actual threats. Yet the factors that underlie these shared behavioral patterns remain unclear. Dimensional accounts rooted in Darwin’s conception of antithesis explain many defensive behaviors. Across species, it is also clear that defensive reactions depend on specific situational factors, a feature long emphasized by psychological appraisal theories. Our study sought to extend prior investigations of human judgments of threat to a broader set of threats, including natural disasters, threats from animals, and psychological (as opposed to physical) threats. Our goal was to test whether dimensional and specific patterns of threat evaluation replicate across different threat classes. 85 healthy adult subjects selected descriptions of defensive behaviors that indicated how they would react to 29 threatening scenarios. Scenarios differed with respect to ten factors, e.g., perceived dangerousness or escapability. Across scenarios, we correlated these factor ratings with the pattern of defensive behaviors subjects endorsed. A decision tree hierarchically organized these correlation patterns to successfully predict each scenario’s most common reaction, both for the original sample of subjects and a separate replication group (n = 22). At the top of the decision tree, degree of dangerousness interacted with threat type (physical or psychological) to predict dimensional approach/avoidance behavior. Subordinate nodes represented specific defensive responses evoked by particular contexts. Our ecological approach emphasizes the interplay of situational factors in evoking a broad range of threat reactions. Future studies could test predictions made by our results to help understand pathological threat processing, such as seen in anxiety disorders, and could begin to test underlying neural mechanisms.
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134
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Pop-Out Effect of Negative Words in a Word-Grid Task? JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS 2015. [DOI: 10.5334/jeps.cx] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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135
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Giuliani M, Mirnig N, Stollnberger G, Stadler S, Buchner R, Tscheligi M. Systematic analysis of video data from different human-robot interaction studies: a categorization of social signals during error situations. Front Psychol 2015. [PMID: 26217266 PMCID: PMC4495306 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Human-robot interactions are often affected by error situations that are caused by either the robot or the human. Therefore, robots would profit from the ability to recognize when error situations occur. We investigated the verbal and non-verbal social signals that humans show when error situations occur in human-robot interaction experiments. For that, we analyzed 201 videos of five human-robot interaction user studies with varying tasks from four independent projects. The analysis shows that there are two types of error situations: social norm violations and technical failures. Social norm violations are situations in which the robot does not adhere to the underlying social script of the interaction. Technical failures are caused by technical shortcomings of the robot. The results of the video analysis show that the study participants use many head movements and very few gestures, but they often smile, when in an error situation with the robot. Another result is that the participants sometimes stop moving at the beginning of error situations. We also found that the participants talked more in the case of social norm violations and less during technical failures. Finally, the participants use fewer non-verbal social signals (for example smiling, nodding, and head shaking), when they are interacting with the robot alone and no experimenter or other human is present. The results suggest that participants do not see the robot as a social interaction partner with comparable communication skills. Our findings have implications for builders and evaluators of human-robot interaction systems. The builders need to consider including modules for recognition and classification of head movements to the robot input channels. The evaluators need to make sure that the presence of an experimenter does not skew the results of their user studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Giuliani
- Department of Computer Sciences, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg Salzburg, Austria
| | - Nicole Mirnig
- Department of Computer Sciences, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg Salzburg, Austria
| | - Gerald Stollnberger
- Department of Computer Sciences, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg Salzburg, Austria
| | - Susanne Stadler
- Department of Computer Sciences, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg Salzburg, Austria
| | - Roland Buchner
- Department of Computer Sciences, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg Salzburg, Austria
| | - Manfred Tscheligi
- Department of Computer Sciences, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg Salzburg, Austria
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136
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Allcoat D, Greville WJ, Newton PM, Dymond S. Frozen with fear: Conditioned suppression in a virtual reality model of human anxiety. Behav Processes 2015; 118:98-101. [PMID: 26115568 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2015.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2015] [Revised: 06/17/2015] [Accepted: 06/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Freezing-like topographies of behavior are elicited in conditioned suppression tasks whereby appetitive behavior is reduced by presentations of an aversively conditioned threat cue relative to a safety cue. Conditioned suppression of operant behavior by a Pavlovian threat cue is an established laboratory model of quantifying the response impairment seen in anxiety disorders. Little is known however about how different response topographies indicative of conditioned suppression are elicited in humans. Here, we refined a novel virtual reality (VR) paradigm in which presentations of a threat cue of unpredictable duration occurred while participants performed an operant response of shooting and destroying boxes searching for hidden gold. The VR paradigm detected significant suppression of response topographies (shots, hits and breaks) for a Pavlovian threat cue relative to a safety cue and novel cue presentations. Implications of the present findings for translational research on appetitive and aversive conflict in anxiety disorders are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devon Allcoat
- Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom
| | - W James Greville
- College of Medicine, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom
| | - Philip M Newton
- College of Medicine, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Dymond
- Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, Reykjavík University, Menntavegur 1, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland.
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137
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Mouras H, Lelard T, Ahmaidi S, Godefroy O, Krystkowiak P. Freezing behavior as a response to sexual visual stimuli as demonstrated by posturography. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0127097. [PMID: 25992571 PMCID: PMC4439164 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2014] [Accepted: 04/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Posturographic changes in motivational conditions remain largely unexplored in the context of embodied cognition. Over the last decade, sexual motivation has been used as a good canonical working model to study motivated social interactions. The objective of this study was to explore posturographic variations in response to visual sexual videos as compared to neutral videos. Our results support demonstration of a freezing-type response in response to sexually explicit stimuli compared to other conditions, as demonstrated by significantly decreased standard deviations for (i) the center of pressure displacement along the mediolateral and anteroposterior axes and (ii) center of pressure's displacement surface. These results support the complexity of the motor correlates of sexual motivation considered to be a canonical functional context to study the motor correlates of motivated social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harold Mouras
- EA 7273, Centre de Recherche en Psychologie: Cognition, Psychisme et Organisations, UFR de Sciences Humaines Sciences Sociales et Philosophie, Département de Psychologie, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80000 Amiens, France
- Structure Fédérative de Recherche en Santé CAP-Santé, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80000 Amiens, France, and Université de Reims-Champagne-Ardennes, F-51097 Reims, France
| | - Thierry Lelard
- EA 3300, Adaptations Physiologiques à l’Exercice et Réadaptation a l’Effort, UFR des Sciences du Sport, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80025 Amiens, France
- Structure Fédérative de Recherche en Santé CAP-Santé, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80000 Amiens, France, and Université de Reims-Champagne-Ardennes, F-51097 Reims, France
| | - Said Ahmaidi
- EA 3300, Adaptations Physiologiques à l’Exercice et Réadaptation a l’Effort, UFR des Sciences du Sport, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80025 Amiens, France
- Structure Fédérative de Recherche en Santé CAP-Santé, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80000 Amiens, France, and Université de Reims-Champagne-Ardennes, F-51097 Reims, France
| | - Olivier Godefroy
- EA 7273, Centre de Recherche en Psychologie: Cognition, Psychisme et Organisations, UFR de Sciences Humaines Sciences Sociales et Philosophie, Département de Psychologie, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80000 Amiens, France
- EA 3300, Adaptations Physiologiques à l’Exercice et Réadaptation a l’Effort, UFR des Sciences du Sport, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80025 Amiens, France
| | - Pierre Krystkowiak
- EA 4559, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Fonctionnelles et Pathologies, UFR de Médecine, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 3 rue des Louvels, F-80000 Amiens, France
- Service de Neurologie, CHU Amiens, Place Victor Pauchet, F-80054 Amiens Cedex 1, France
- Structure Fédérative de Recherche en Santé CAP-Santé, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, F-80000 Amiens, France, and Université de Reims-Champagne-Ardennes, F-51097 Reims, France
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138
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Seeing fearful body language rapidly freezes the observer's motor cortex. Cortex 2015; 65:232-45. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2014] [Revised: 11/21/2014] [Accepted: 01/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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139
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Goode TD, Kim JJ, Maren S. Relapse of extinguished fear after exposure to a dangerous context is mitigated by testing in a safe context. Learn Mem 2015; 22:170-8. [PMID: 25691517 PMCID: PMC4340132 DOI: 10.1101/lm.037028.114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2014] [Accepted: 01/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Aversive events can trigger relapse of extinguished fear memories, presenting a major challenge to the long-term efficacy of therapeutic interventions. Here, we examined factors regulating the relapse of extinguished fear after exposure of rats to a dangerous context. Rats received unsignaled shock in a distinct context ("dangerous" context) 24 h prior to auditory fear conditioning in another context. Fear to the auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) was subsequently extinguished either in the conditioning context ("ambiguous" context) or in a third novel context ("safe" context). Exposure to the dangerous context 30 min before a CS retention test caused relapse to the CS in the ambiguous and safe test contexts relative to nonextinguished controls. When rats were tested 24 h later (with or without short-term testing), rats tested in the ambiguous context continued to exhibit relapse, whereas rats tested in the safe context did not. Additionally, exposure of rats to the conditioning context--in place of the unsignaled shock context--did not result in relapse of fear to the CS in the safe testing context. Our work highlights the vulnerabilities of extinction recall to interference, and demonstrates the importance of context associations in the relapse of fear after extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Travis D Goode
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3473, USA
| | - Janice J Kim
- Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3473, USA
| | - Stephen Maren
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3473, USA Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3473, USA
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140
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Moran A, Bramham J, Collet C, Guillot A, MacIntyre TE. Motor imagery in clinical disorders: importance and implications. Front Psychiatry 2015; 6:23. [PMID: 25762942 PMCID: PMC4332162 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2014] [Accepted: 02/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Aidan Moran
- School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jessica Bramham
- School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Christian Collet
- Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Aymeric Guillot
- Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Tadhg Eoghan MacIntyre
- Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
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141
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Comparison of operant escape and reflex tests of nociceptive sensitivity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 51:223-42. [PMID: 25660956 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2014] [Revised: 01/17/2015] [Accepted: 01/27/2015] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Testing of reflexes such as flexion/withdrawal or licking/guarding is well established as the standard for evaluating nociceptive sensitivity and its modulation in preclinical investigations of laboratory animals. Concerns about this approach have been dismissed for practical reasons - reflex testing requires no training of the animals; it is simple to instrument; and responses are characterized by observers as latencies or thresholds for evocation. In order to evaluate this method, the present review summarizes a series of experiments in which reflex and operant escape responding are compared in normal animals and following surgical models of neuropathic pain or pharmacological intervention for pain. Particular attention is paid to relationships between reflex and escape responding and information on the pain sensitivity of normal human subjects or patients with pain. Numerous disparities between results for reflex and operant escape measures are described, but the results of operant testing are consistent with evidence from humans. Objective reasons are given for experimenters to choose between these and other methods of evaluating the nociceptive sensitivity of laboratory animals.
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142
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Hagenaars MA, Mesbah R, Cremers H. Mental Imagery Affects Subsequent Automatic Defense Responses. Front Psychiatry 2015; 6:73. [PMID: 26089801 PMCID: PMC4453270 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2014] [Accepted: 04/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Automatic defense responses promote survival and appropriate action under threat. They have also been associated with the development of threat-related psychiatric syndromes. Targeting such automatic responses during threat may be useful in populations with frequent threat exposure. Here, two experiments explored whether mental imagery as a pre-trauma manipulation could influence fear bradycardia (a core characteristic of freezing) during subsequent analog trauma (affective picture viewing). Image-based interventions have proven successful in the treatment of threat-related disorders and are easily applicable. In Experiment 1, 43 healthy participants were randomly assigned to an imagery script condition. Participants executed a passive viewing task with blocks of neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant pictures after listening to an auditory script that was either related (with a positive or a negative outcome) or unrelated to the unpleasant pictures from the passive viewing task. Heart rate was assessed during script listening and during passive viewing. Imagining negative related scripts resulted in greater bradycardia (neutral-unpleasant contrast) than imagining positive scripts, especially unrelated. This effect was replicated in Experiment 2 (n = 51), again in the neutral-unpleasant contrast. An extra no-script condition showed that bradycardia was not induced by the negative-related script, but rather that a positive script attenuated bradycardia. These preliminary results might indicate reduced vigilance after unrelated positive events. Future research should replicate these findings using a larger sample. Either way, the findings show that highly automatic defense behavior can be influenced by relatively simple mental imagery manipulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muriel A Hagenaars
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen , Nijmegen , Netherlands ; Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University , Leiden , Netherlands ; Biological Science Division, Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL , USA
| | - Rahele Mesbah
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University , Leiden , Netherlands ; Department of Depression, PsyQ Rijnmond , Rotterdam , Netherlands
| | - Henk Cremers
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University , Leiden , Netherlands ; Biological Science Division, Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL , USA
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143
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Heeringa AN, Agterberg MJH, van Dijk P. Spontaneous behavior in noise and silence: a possible new measure to assess tinnitus in Guinea pigs. Front Neurol 2014; 5:207. [PMID: 25360130 PMCID: PMC4197645 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2014.00207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2014] [Accepted: 09/30/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
This study describes two experiments that were conducted in search for a behavioral paradigm to test for tinnitus in guinea pigs. Conditioning paradigms are available to determine the presence of tinnitus in animals and are based on the assumption that tinnitus impairs their ability to detect silent intervals in continuous noise. Guinea pigs have not been subjected to these paradigms yet; therefore, we investigated whether guinea pigs could be conditioned in the two-way shuttle-box paradigm to respond to silent intervals in noise. Even though guinea pigs could be trained relatively easy to respond to the presence of a noise interval, training guinea pigs to silent intervals in noise was unsuccessful. Instead, it appeared that they became immobile when the continuous stimulus was suddenly stopped. This was confirmed by the next experiment, in which we subjected guinea pigs to alternating intervals of noise and silence with a random duration between 30 and 120 s. Indeed, guinea pigs were significantly longer immobile during silence compared to during noise. By interpreting immobility as a signature of perceiving silence, we hypothesized that the presence of tinnitus would reduce immobility in silence. Therefore, we unilaterally exposed one group of guinea pigs to an 11-kHz tone of 124 dB sound pressure level for 1 h. A subset of the exposed animals was significantly more active in silence, but also more active in noise, as compared to the control group. The increased mobility during silent intervals might represent tinnitus. However, the increased mobility in noise of this group implies that the observed behavior could have derived from, e.g., an overall increase in activity. Therefore, conducting validation experiments is very important before implementing this method as a new screening tool for tinnitus. Follow-up experiments are discussed to further elucidate the origin of the increased mobility in both silence and noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amarins N Heeringa
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen , Groningen , Netherlands ; Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences), University of Groningen , Groningen , Netherlands
| | - Martijn J H Agterberg
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre , Nijmegen , Netherlands ; Department of Biophysics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen , Nijmegen , Netherlands
| | - Pim van Dijk
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen , Groningen , Netherlands ; Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences), University of Groningen , Groningen , Netherlands
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