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Morato C, Guerra P, Bublatzky F. A partner's smile is not per se a safety signal: Psychophysiological response patterns to instructed threat and safety. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14273. [PMID: 36812132 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies on fear conditioning and pain perception suggest that pictures of loved ones (e.g., a romantic partner) may serve as a prepared safety cue that is less likely to signal aversive events. Challenging this view, we examined whether pictures of smiling or angry loved ones are better safety or threat cues. To this end, 47 healthy participants were verbally instructed that specific facial expressions (e.g., happy faces) cue threat of electric shocks and others cue safety (e.g., angry faces). When facial images served as threat cues, they elicited distinct psychophysiological defensive responses (e.g., increased threat ratings, startle reflex, and skin conductance responses) compared to viewing safety cues. Interestingly, instructed threat effects occurred regardless of the person who cued shock threat (partner vs. unknown) and their facial expression (happy vs. angry). Taken together, these results demonstrate the flexible nature of facial information (i.e., facial expression and facial identity) to be easily learned as signals for threat or safety, even when showing loved ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Morato
- Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Pedro Guerra
- Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Florian Bublatzky
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
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2
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Bublatzky F, Schellhaas S, Guerra P. The mere sight of loved ones does not inhibit psychophysiological defense mechanisms when threatened. Sci Rep 2022; 12:2515. [PMID: 35169193 PMCID: PMC8847570 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-06514-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Looking at pictures of loved ones, such as one's romantic partner or good friends, has been shown to alleviate the experience of pain and reduce defensive reactions. However, little is known about such modulatory effects on threat and safety learning and the psychophysiological processes involved. Here, we explored the hypothesis that beloved faces serve as implicit safety cues and attenuate the expression of fear responses and/or accelerate extinction learning in a threatening context. Thirty-two participants viewed pictures of their loved ones (romantic partner, parents, and best friend) as well as of unknown individuals within contextual background colors indicating threat-of-shock or safety. Focusing on the extinction of non-reinforced threat associations (no shocks were given), the experiment was repeated on two more test days while the defensive startle-EMG, SCR, and threat ratings were obtained. Results confirmed pronounced defensive responding to instructed threat-of-shock relative to safety context (e.g., threat-enhanced startle reflex and SCR). Moreover, threat-potentiated startle response slowly declined across test days indicating passive extinction learning in the absence of shocks. Importantly, neither a main effect of face category (loved vs. unknown) nor a significant interaction with threat/safety instructions was observed. Thus, a long-term learning history of beneficial relations (e.g., with supportive parents) did not interfere with verbal threat learning and aversive apprehensions. These findings reflect the effects of worries and apprehensions that persist despite the repeated experience of safety and the pictorial presence of loved ones. How to counter such aversive expectations is key to changing mal-adaptive behaviors (e.g., avoidance or stockpiling), biased risk perceptions, and stereotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Bublatzky
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany. .,Department of Personality, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
| | - Sabine Schellhaas
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Pedro Guerra
- Department of Personality, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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3
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Zika MA, Becker L. Physical Activity as a Treatment for Social Anxiety in Clinical and Non-clinical Populations: A Systematic Review and Three Meta-Analyses for Different Study Designs. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:653108. [PMID: 34177489 PMCID: PMC8230570 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.653108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The fear of being in the focus of attention in social situations can develop into a social anxiety disorder (SAD). The classical treatment for SAD is cognitive behavioral therapy, which is in many cases accompanied by drug treatments. A promising alternative treatment is physical activity (PA) interventions, because regular PA has been shown to be suitable for reducing anxiety in general. We conducted a pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO registration no. CRD42020191181) as well as two additional searches. Our aim was to investigate whether PA interventions are a suitable treatment for SAD and whether PA is suitable for reducing social anxiety (SA) in general. For studies with randomized controlled trial designs, a not statistically significant effect of medium size toward lower general SA symptomatology was found in the PA group in comparison with the control group (d = -0.24, p = 0.377). For studies with longitudinal designs, significantly lower SA symptoms were found after PA treatments (d = -0.22, p = 0.001). The effect of PA on SA was stronger for adults than for children and adolescents (p = 0.003). For cross-sectional studies, a small negative association between SA symptoms and the amount of PA was found, i.e., lower SA was found for people who were more physically active (r = -0.12, p = 0.003). We conclude that PA is a promising means for the (additional) treatment of SAD or to reduce SA in general in non-clinical samples, but more research in which high-quality studies with randomized controlled trial designs are used is needed. Furthermore, open questions with respect to moderating variables (e.g., age, sex, BMI, type of intervention, stress, amount of regular PA before the intervention, and comorbidities) remain still open.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya A Zika
- Department of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Linda Becker
- Department of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
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Hengen KM, Alpers GW. Stress Makes the Difference: Social Stress and Social Anxiety in Decision-Making Under Uncertainty. Front Psychol 2021; 12:578293. [PMID: 33692716 PMCID: PMC7937725 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.578293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress and anxiety can both influence risk-taking in decision-making. While stress typically increases risk-taking, anxiety often leads to risk-averse choices. Few studies have examined both stress and anxiety in a single paradigm to assess risk-averse choices. We therefore set out to examine emotional decision-making under stress in socially anxious participants. In our study, individuals (N = 87) high or low in social anxiety completed an expanded variation of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). While inflating a balloon to a larger degree is rewarded, a possible explosion leads to (a) a loss of money and (b) it is followed by an emotional picture (i.e., a calm vs. an angry face). To induce stress before this task, participants were told that they would have to deliver a speech. We operationalized risk-taking by the number of pumps during inflation and its functionality by the amount of monetary gain. In addition, response times were recorded as an index of decisional conflict. Without the stressor, high socially anxious compared to low socially anxious participants did not differ in any of the dependent variables. However, under stress, the low socially anxious group took more risk and earned more money, while high socially anxious individuals remained more cautious and did not change their risk-taking under social stress. Overall, high socially anxious individuals made their decisions more hesitantly compared to low socially anxious individuals. Unexpectedly, there were no main effects or interactions with the valence of the emotional faces. This data shows that stress affects socially anxious individuals differently: in low socially anxious individuals stress fosters risk-taking, whereas high socially anxious individuals did not alter their behavior and remained risk-averse. The novel eBART is a promising research tool to examine the specific factors that influence decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Georg W. Alpers
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Science, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
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5
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Watch out, he's dangerous! Electrocortical indicators of selective visual attention to allegedly threatening persons. Cortex 2020; 131:164-178. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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6
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Schindler S, Bublatzky F. Attention and emotion: An integrative review of emotional face processing as a function of attention. Cortex 2020; 130:362-386. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 05/28/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Seidman SB, Danzo S, Patton E, Connell AM. Here's looking at you, kid? Maternal depression and adolescent attention to self- or other-directed emotional faces. J Affect Disord 2020; 272:38-45. [PMID: 32379618 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Revised: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Maternal depression history represents a significant risk factor for developing psychopathology in children, altered emotional responding may represent a central risk pathway. However, additional research is needed on factors that affect the strength or direction of response alterations in relation to depression-risk in youth. In particular, facial orientation and gaze direction may alter personal relevance, with emotions directed towards an individual heightening motivational salience, compared to emotions directed away. METHODS Mother-daughter dyads (N = 56) were recruited based on presence or absence of maternal depression history and absence of youth depression. In line with theoretical perspectives suggesting diminished sensitivity to emotional context in relation to depression risk, we examined three Event-Related Potential (ERP) components in relation to forward versus averted emotional faces in a sample of girls with and without a maternal history of depression: the N200, N400, and Late Positive Potential (LPP). RESULTS Results showed a significant maternal depression history by face-orientation effect. Low-risk girls exhibited more negative N200 and N400 amplitudes for straight (M = -3.72, SE = 0.83; M = -3.57, SE = 0.86) versus averted (M = -2.15, SE = 0.76; M = -1.68, SE = 0.81) faces, while girls of mothers with histories of depression showed undifferentiated N200 or N400 responses in relation to face orientation. For LPP amplitudes, low-risk girls exhibited significantly more positive LPP amplitudes than high-risk girls, but only for averted faces (M = 0.69, SE = 0.59 and M = -2.63, SE = 0.74, respectively). LIMITATIONS Cross-sectional design and limited sample. CONCLUSIONS Results indicate that familial depression risk is associated with altered responsivity to face-orientation, these were interpreted as representing differential sensitivity to the personal-relevance of emotional stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel B Seidman
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 11200 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH 44106-7123, United States.
| | - Sarah Danzo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 11200 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH 44106-7123, United States
| | - Emily Patton
- California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, 1000 S Fremont Ave #5, Alhambra, CA 91803, United States
| | - Arin M Connell
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 11200 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH 44106-7123, United States
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Bublatzky F, Kavcıoğlu F, Guerra P, Doll S, Junghöfer M. Contextual information resolves uncertainty about ambiguous facial emotions: Behavioral and magnetoencephalographic correlates. Neuroimage 2020; 215:116814. [PMID: 32276073 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Revised: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Environmental conditions bias our perception of other peoples' facial emotions. This becomes quite relevant in potentially threatening situations, when a fellow's facial expression might indicate potential danger. The present study tested the prediction that a threatening environment biases the recognition of facial emotions. To this end, low- and medium-expressive happy and fearful faces (morphed to 10%, 20%, 30%, or 40% emotional) were presented within a context of instructed threat-of-shock or safety. Self-reported data revealed that instructed threat led to a biased recognition of fearful, but not happy facial expressions. Magnetoencephalographic correlates revealed spatio-temporal clusters of neural network activity associated with emotion recognition and contextual threat/safety in early to mid-latency time intervals in the left parietal cortex, bilateral prefrontal cortex, and the left temporal pole regions. Early parietal activity revealed a double dissociation of face-context information as a function of the expressive level of facial emotions: When facial expressions were difficult to recognize (low-expressive), contextual threat enhanced fear processing and contextual safety enhanced processing of subtle happy faces. However, for rather easily recognizable faces (medium-expressive) the left hemisphere (parietal cortex, PFC, and temporal pole) showed enhanced activity to happy faces during contextual threat and fearful faces during safety. Thus, contextual settings reduce the salience threshold and boost early face processing of low-expressive congruent facial emotions, whereas face-context incongruity or mismatch effects drive neural activity of easier recognizable facial emotions. These results elucidate how environmental settings help recognize facial emotions, and the brain mechanisms underlying the recognition of subtle nuances of fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Bublatzky
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Germany.
| | - Fatih Kavcıoğlu
- Chair of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Germany
| | - Pedro Guerra
- Department of Personality, University of Granada, Spain
| | - Sarah Doll
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Markus Junghöfer
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany
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9
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Bublatzky F, Riemer M, Guerra P. Reversing Threat to Safety: Incongruence of Facial Emotions and Instructed Threat Modulates Conscious Perception but Not Physiological Responding. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2091. [PMID: 31572272 PMCID: PMC6753879 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Facial expressions inform about other peoples' emotion and motivation and thus are central for social communication. However, the meaning of facial expressions may change depending on what we have learned about the related consequences. For instance, a smile might easily become threatening when displayed by a person who is known to be dangerous. The present study examined the malleability of emotional facial valence by means of social learning. To this end, facial expressions served as cues for verbally instructed threat-of-shock or safety (e.g., "happy faces cue shocks"). Moreover, reversal instructions tested the flexibility of threat/safety associations (e.g., "now happy faces cue safety"). Throughout the experiment, happy, neutral, and angry facial expressions were presented and auditory startle probes elicited defensive reflex activity. Results show that self-reported ratings and physiological reactions to threat/safety cues dissociate. Regarding threat and valence ratings, happy facial expressions tended to be more resistant becoming a threat cue, and angry faces remain threatening even when instructed as safety cue. For physiological response systems, however, we observed threat-potentiated startle reflex and enhanced skin conductance responses for threat compared to safety cues regardless of whether threat was cued by happy or angry faces. Thus, the incongruity of visual and verbal threat/safety information modulates conscious perception, but not the activation of physiological response systems. These results show that verbal instructions can readily overwrite the intrinsic meaning of facial emotions, with clear benefits for social communication as learning and anticipation of threat and safety readjusted to accurately track environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Bublatzky
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Martin Riemer
- Aging & Cognition Research Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
- Faculty for Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Pedro Guerra
- Department of Personality, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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10
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Schindler S, Vormbrock R, Kissler J. Emotion in Context: How Sender Predictability and Identity Affect Processing of Words as Imminent Personality Feedback. Front Psychol 2019; 10:94. [PMID: 30774611 PMCID: PMC6367230 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent findings suggest that communicative context affects the timing and magnitude of emotion effects in word processing. In particular, social attributions seem to be one important source of plasticity for the processing of affectively charged language. Here, we investigate the timing and magnitude of ERP responses toward positive, neutral, and negative trait adjectives during the anticipation of putative socio-evaluative feedback from different senders (human and computer) varying in predictability. In the first experiment, during word presentation participants could not anticipate whether a human or a randomly acting computer sender was about to give feedback. Here, a main effect of emotion was observed only on the late positive potential (LPP), showing larger amplitudes for positive compared to neutral adjectives. In the second study the same stimuli and set-up were used, but a block-wise presentation was realized, resulting in fixed and fully predictable sender identity. Feedback was supposedly given by an expert (psychotherapist), a layperson (unknown human), and again by a randomly acting computer. Main effects of emotion started with an increased P1 for negative adjectives, followed by effects at the N1 and early posterior negativity (EPN), showing both largest amplitudes for positive words, as well as for the LPP, where positive and negative words elicited larger amplitudes than neutral words. An interaction revealed that emotional LPP modulations occurred only for a human sender. Finally, regardless of content, anticipating human feedback led to larger P1 and P3 components, being highest for the putative expert. These findings demonstrate the malleability of emotional language processing by social contexts. When clear predictions can be made, our brains rapidly differentiate between emotional and neutral information, as well as between different senders. Attributed human presence affects emotional language processing already during feedback anticipation, in line with a selective gating of attentional resources via anticipatory social significance attributions. By contrast, emotion effects occur much later, when crucial social context information is still missing. These findings demonstrate the context-dependence of emotion effects in word processing and are particularly relevant since virtual communication with unknown senders, whose identity is inferred rather than perceived, has become reality for millions of people.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Schindler
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Institute for Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.,Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Ria Vormbrock
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Johanna Kissler
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.,Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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Bublatzky F, Guerra P, Alpers GW. Verbal instructions override the meaning of facial expressions. Sci Rep 2018; 8:14988. [PMID: 30301956 PMCID: PMC6177419 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-33269-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychological research has long acknowledged that facial expressions can implicitly trigger affective psychophysiological responses. However, whether verbal information can alter the meaning of facial emotions and corresponding response patterns has not been tested. This study examined emotional facial expressions as cues for instructed threat-of-shock or safety, with a focus on defensive responding. In addition, reversal instructions were introduced to test the impact of explicit safety instructions on fear extinction. Forty participants were instructed that they would receive unpleasant electric shocks, for instance, when viewing happy but not angry faces. In a second block, instructions were reversed (e.g., now angry faces cued shock). Happy, neutral, and angry faces were repeatedly presented, and auditory startle probes were delivered in half of the trials. The defensive startle reflex was potentiated for threat compared to safety cues. Importantly, this effect occurred regardless of whether threat was cued by happy or angry expressions. Although the typical pattern of response habituation was observed, defense activation to newly instructed threat cues remained significantly enhanced in the second part of the experiment, and it was more pronounced in more socially anxious participants. Thus, anxious individuals did not exhibit more pronounced defense activation compared to less anxious participants, but their defense activation was more persistent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Bublatzky
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
- Clinical Psychology and Biological Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
| | - Pedro Guerra
- University of Granada, Department of Personality, Granada, Spain
| | - Georg W Alpers
- Clinical Psychology and Biological Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
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12
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Berdica E, Gerdes ABM, Bublatzky F, White AJ, Alpers GW. Threat vs. Threat: Attention to Fear-Related Animals and Threatening Faces. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1154. [PMID: 30083115 PMCID: PMC6064822 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
It is generally thought to be adaptive that fear relevant stimuli in the environment can capture and hold our attention; and in psychopathology attentional allocation is thought to be cue-specific. Such hypervigilance toward threatening cues or difficulty to disengage attention from threat has been demonstrated for a variety of stimuli, for example, toward evolutionary prepared animals or toward socially relevant facial expressions. Usually, specific stimuli have been examined in individuals with particular fears (e.g., animals in animal fearful and faces in socially fearful participants). However, different kinds of stimuli are rarely examined in one study. Thus, it is unknown how different categories of threatening stimuli compete for attention and how specific kinds of fears modulate these attentional processes. In this study, we used a free viewing paradigm: pairs of pictures with threat-related content (spiders or angry faces) or neutral content (butterflies or neutral faces) were presented side by side (i.e., spiders and angry faces, angry and neutral faces, spiders and butterflies, butterflies and neutral faces). Eye-movements were recorded while spider fearful, socially anxious, or non-anxious participants viewed the picture pairs. Results generally replicate the finding that unpleasant pictures more effectively capture attention in the beginning of a trial compared to neutral pictures. This effect was more pronounced in spider fearful participants: the higher the fear the quicker they were in looking at spiders. This was not the case for high socially anxious participants and pictures of angry faces. Interestingly, when presented next to each other, there was no preference in initial orientation for either spiders or angry faces. However, neutral faces were looked at more quickly than butterflies. Regarding sustained attention, we found no general preference for unpleasant pictures compared to neutral pictures.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Georg W. Alpers
- Clinical and Biological Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
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13
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Bublatzky F, Pittig A, Schupp HT, Alpers GW. Face-to-face: Perceived personal relevance amplifies face processing. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018; 12:811-822. [PMID: 28158672 PMCID: PMC5460051 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsx001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The human face conveys emotional and social information, but it is not well understood how these two aspects influence face perception. In order to model a group situation, two faces displaying happy, neutral or angry expressions were presented. Importantly, faces were either facing the observer, or they were presented in profile view directed towards, or looking away from each other. In Experiment 1 (n = 64), face pairs were rated regarding perceived relevance, wish-to-interact, and displayed interactivity, as well as valence and arousal. All variables revealed main effects of facial expression (emotional > neutral), face orientation (facing observer > towards > away) and interactions showed that evaluation of emotional faces strongly varies with their orientation. Experiment 2 (n = 33) examined the temporal dynamics of perceptual-attentional processing of these face constellations with event-related potentials. Processing of emotional and neutral faces differed significantly in N170 amplitudes, early posterior negativity (EPN), and sustained positive potentials. Importantly, selective emotional face processing varied as a function of face orientation, indicating early emotion-specific (N170, EPN) and late threat-specific effects (LPP, sustained positivity). Taken together, perceived personal relevance to the observer-conveyed by facial expression and face direction-amplifies emotional face processing within triadic group situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Bublatzky
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Biological Psychology and Psychotherapy, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Andre Pittig
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Biological Psychology and Psychotherapy, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Harald T Schupp
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Georg W Alpers
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Biological Psychology and Psychotherapy, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
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