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Buehler SK, Lowther M, Lukow PB, Kirk PA, Pike AC, Yamamori Y, Chavanne AV, Gormley S, Goble T, Tuominen EW, Aylward J, McCloud T, Rodriguez-Sanchez J, Robinson OJ. Independent replications reveal anterior and posterior cingulate cortex activation underlying state anxiety-attenuated face encoding. COMMUNICATIONS PSYCHOLOGY 2024; 2:80. [PMID: 39184223 PMCID: PMC11343718 DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00128-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 08/08/2024] [Indexed: 08/27/2024]
Abstract
Anxiety involves the anticipation of aversive outcomes and can impair neurocognitive processes, such as the ability to recall faces encoded during the anxious state. It is important to precisely delineate and determine the replicability of these effects using causal state anxiety inductions in the general population. This study therefore aimed to replicate prior research on the distinct impacts of threat-of-shock-induced anxiety on the encoding and recognition stage of emotional face processing, in a large asymptomatic sample (n = 92). We successfully replicated previous results demonstrating impaired recognition of faces encoded under threat-of-shock. This was supported by a mega-analysis across three independent studies using the same paradigm (n = 211). Underlying this, a whole-brain fMRI analysis revealed enhanced activation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), alongside previously seen activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) when combined in a mega-analysis with the fMRI findings we aimed to replicate. We further found replications of hippocampus activation when the retrieval and encoding states were congruent. Our results support the notion that state anxiety disrupts face recognition, potentially due to attentional demands of anxious arousal competing with affective stimuli processing during encoding and suggest that regions of the cingulate cortex play pivotal roles in this.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Peter A. Kirk
- National Institute of Mental Health, Washington, DC USA
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Poplin T, Ironside M, Kuplicki R, Aupperle RL, Guinjoan SM, Khalsa SS, Stewart JL, Victor TA, Paulus MP, Kirlic N. The unique face of comorbid anxiety and depression: Increased frontal, insula and cingulate cortex response during Pavlovian fear-conditioning. J Affect Disord 2024; 366:98-105. [PMID: 39187192 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2024] [Revised: 08/03/2024] [Accepted: 08/23/2024] [Indexed: 08/28/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dysregulation of fear processing through altered sensitivity to threat is thought to contribute to the development of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, fewer studies have examined fear processing in MDD than in anxiety disorders. The current study used propensity matching to examine the hypothesis that comorbid MDD and anxiety (AnxMDD) shows greater neural correlates of fear processing than MDD, suggesting that the co-occurrence of AnxMDD is exemplified by exaggerated defense related processes. METHODS 195 individuals with MDD (N = 65) or AnxMDD (N = 130) were recruited from the community and completed multi-level assessments, including a Pavlovian fear learning task during functional imaging. Visual images paired with threat (conditioned stimuli: CS+) were compared to stimuli not paired with threat (CS-). RESULTS MDD and AnxMDD showed significantly different patterns of activation for CS+ vs CS- in the dorsal anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus (partial eta squared; ηp2 = 0.02), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (ηp2 = 0.01) and dorsal anterior/mid cingulate cortex (ηp2 = 0.01). These differences were driven by greater activation to the CS+ in AnxMDD versus MDD. LIMITATIONS Limitations include the cross-sectional design, a scream US rather than shock and half the number of MDD as AnxMDD participants. CONCLUSIONS AnxMDD showed a pattern of increased activation in regions identified with fear processing. Effects were consistently driven by threat, further suggesting fear signaling as the emergent target process. Differences emerged in regions associated with salience processing, attentional orienting/conflict, self-relevant processing and executive functioning in comorbid anxiety and depression, thereby highlighting potential treatment targets for this prevalent and treatment resistant group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tate Poplin
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
| | - Maria Ironside
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA; University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA.
| | - Rayus Kuplicki
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
| | - Robin L Aupperle
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA; University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Salvador M Guinjoan
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA; University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Sahib S Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Jennifer L Stewart
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA; University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Teresa A Victor
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
| | - Martin P Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA; University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Namik Kirlic
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
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Romeo Z, Spironelli C. Theta oscillations underlie the interplay between emotional processing and empathy. Heliyon 2024; 10:e34581. [PMID: 39148968 PMCID: PMC11325776 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2024] [Revised: 06/16/2024] [Accepted: 07/11/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Emotional reactions to salient stimuli are well documented in psychophysiological research. However, some individual variables that can influence how people process emotions (i.e., empathy traits) have received little consideration. The present study investigated the relationship between emotions and empathy. Forty participants completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, a questionnaire that measure general and specific empathy dimensions. Then, emotional (erotic and mutilation) and non-emotional pictures were presented, during electroencephalographic recording. Valence and arousal were evaluated for each stimulus. Behavioral results revealed a positive correlation between the arousal induced by mutilation pictures and personal distress (i.e., feeling discomfort in emergency situations). At the electrophysiological level, theta activity elicited by positive and negative emotion processing in the superior frontal gyrus was associated with personal distress. Moreover, erotic-related theta in the middle frontal gyrus was associated with subjective judgement of erotic stimulus valence. Overall, theta activity modulated the interplay between emotions and empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaira Romeo
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Neuroscience Institute, National Research Council (CNR), Padova, Italy
| | - Chiara Spironelli
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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4
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Huang M, Tao X, Bao J, Wang J, Gong X, Luo L, Pan S, Yang R, Gui Y, Zhou H, Xia Y, Yang Y, Sun B, Liu W, Shu X. GADD45B in the ventral hippocampal CA1 modulates aversive memory acquisition and spatial cognition. Life Sci 2024; 346:122618. [PMID: 38614306 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2024.122618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 04/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/15/2024]
Abstract
AIMS This study was designed to investigate the role of growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible β (GADD45B) in modulating fear memory acquisition and elucidate its underlying mechanisms. MAIN METHODS Adeno-associated virus (AAV) that knockdown or overexpression GADD45B were injected into ventral hippocampal CA1 (vCA1) by stereotactic, and verified by fluorescence and Western blot. The contextual fear conditioning paradigm was employed to examine the involvement of GADD45B in modulating aversive memory acquisition. The Y-maze and novel location recognition (NLR) tests were used to examine non-aversive cognition. The synaptic plasticity and electrophysiological properties of neurons were measured by slice patch clamp. KEY FINDINGS Knockdown of GADD45B in the vCA1 significantly enhanced fear memory acquisition, accompanied by an upregulation of long-term potentiation (LTP) expression and intrinsic excitability of vCA1 pyramidal neurons (PNs). Conversely, overexpression of GADD45B produced the opposite effects. Notably, silencing the activity of vCA1 neurons abolished the impact of GADD45B knockdown on fear memory development. Moreover, mice with vCA1 GADD45B overexpression exhibited impaired spatial cognition, whereas mice with GADD45B knockdown did not display such impairment. SIGNIFICANCE These results provided compelling evidence for the crucial involvement of GADD45B in the formation of aversive memory and spatial cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengbing Huang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Xiaoqing Tao
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Jian Bao
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Ji Wang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Xiaokang Gong
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Laijie Luo
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Sijie Pan
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Rong Yang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Yuran Gui
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - HongYan Zhou
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Yiyuan Xia
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Youhua Yang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Binlian Sun
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
| | - Wei Liu
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China.
| | - Xiji Shu
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China.
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5
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Chou T, Deckersbach T, Guerin B, Sretavan Wong K, Borron BM, Kanabar A, Hayden AN, Long MP, Daneshzand M, Pace-Schott EF, Dougherty DD. Transcranial focused ultrasound of the amygdala modulates fear network activation and connectivity. Brain Stimul 2024; 17:312-320. [PMID: 38447773 DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2024.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Current noninvasive brain stimulation methods are incapable of directly modulating subcortical brain regions critically involved in psychiatric disorders. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound (tFUS) is a newer form of noninvasive stimulation that could modulate the amygdala, a subcortical region implicated in fear. OBJECTIVE We investigated the effects of active and sham tFUS of the amygdala on fear circuit activation, skin conductance responses (SCR), and self-reported anxiety during a fear-inducing task. We also investigated amygdala tFUS' effects on amygdala-fear circuit resting-state functional connectivity. METHODS Thirty healthy individuals were randomized in this double-blinded study to active or sham tFUS of the left amygdala. We collected fMRI scans, SCR, and self-reported anxiety during a fear-inducing task (participants viewed red or green circles which indicated the risk of receiving an aversive stimulus), as well as resting-state scans, before and after tFUS. RESULTS Compared to sham tFUS, active tFUS was associated with decreased (pre to post tFUS) blood-oxygen-level-dependent fMRI activation in the amygdala (F(1,25) = 4.86, p = 0.04, η2 = 0.16) during the fear task, and lower hippocampal (F(1,27) = 4.41, p = 0.05, η2 = 0.14), and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (F(1,27) = 6.26, p = 0.02; η2 = 0.19) activation during the post tFUS fear task. The decrease in amygdala activation was correlated with decreased subjective anxiety (r = 0.62, p = 0.03). There was no group effect in SCR changes from pre to post tFUS (F(1,23) = 0.85, p = 0.37). The active tFUS group also showed decreased amygdala-insula (F(1,28) = 4.98, p = 0.03) and amygdala-hippocampal (F(1,28) = 7.14, p = 0.01) rsFC, and increased amygdala-ventromedial prefrontal cortex (F(1,28) = 3.52, p = 0.05) resting-state functional connectivity. CONCLUSIONS tFUS can change functional connectivity and brain region activation associated with decreased anxiety. Future studies should investigate tFUS' therapeutic potential for individuals with clinical levels of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tina Chou
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
| | - Thilo Deckersbach
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Bastien Guerin
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Karianne Sretavan Wong
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Benjamin M Borron
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Anish Kanabar
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Ashley N Hayden
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Marina P Long
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Mohammad Daneshzand
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Edward F Pace-Schott
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Darin D Dougherty
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
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Zillig AL, Pauli P, Wieser M, Reicherts P. Better safe than sorry?-On the influence of learned safety on pain perception. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289047. [PMID: 37934741 PMCID: PMC10629634 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The experience of threat was found to result-mostly-in increased pain, however it is still unclear whether the exact opposite, namely the feeling of safety may lead to a reduction of pain. To test this hypothesis, we conducted two between-subject experiments (N = 94; N = 87), investigating whether learned safety relative to a neutral control condition can reduce pain, while threat should lead to increased pain compared to a neutral condition. Therefore, participants first underwent either threat or safety conditioning, before entering an identical test phase, where the previously conditioned threat or safety cue and a newly introduced visual cue were presented simultaneously with heat pain stimuli. Methodological changes were performed in experiment 2 to prevent safety extinction and to facilitate conditioning in the first place: We included additional verbal instructions, increased the maximum length of the ISI and raised CS-US contingency in the threat group from 50% to 75%. In addition to pain ratings and ratings of the visual cues (threat, safety, arousal, valence, and contingency), in both experiments, we collected heart rate and skin conductance. Analysis of the cue ratings during acquisition indicate successful threat and safety induction, however results of the test phase, when also heat pain was administered, demonstrate rapid safety extinction in both experiments. Results suggest rather small modulation of subjective and physiological pain responses following threat or safety cues relative to the neutral condition. However, exploratory analysis revealed reduced pain ratings in later trials of the experiment in the safety group compared to the threat group in both studies, suggesting different temporal dynamics for threat and safety learning and extinction, respectively. Perspective: The present results demonstrate the challenge to maintain safety in the presence of acute pain and suggest more research on the interaction of affective learning mechanism and pain processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna-Lena Zillig
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Paul Pauli
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Wieser
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Philipp Reicherts
- Department of Medical Psychology and Sociology, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
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Grégoire L, Robinson TD, Choi JM, Greening SG. Conscious expectancy rather than associative strength elicits brain activity during single-cue fear conditioning. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:nsad054. [PMID: 37756616 PMCID: PMC10597625 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The neurocognitive processes underlying Pavlovian conditioning in humans are still largely debated. The conventional view is that conditioned responses (CRs) emerge automatically as a function of the contingencies between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US). As such, the associative strength model asserts that the frequency or amplitude of CRs reflects the strength of the CS-US associations. Alternatively, the expectation model asserts that the presentation of the CS triggers conscious expectancy of the US, which is responsible for the production of CRs. The present study tested the hypothesis that there are dissociable brain networks related to the expectancy and associative strength theories using a single-cue fear conditioning paradigm with a pseudo-random intermittent reinforcement schedule during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants' (n = 21) trial-by-trial expectations of receiving shock displayed a significant linear effect consistent with the expectation model. We also found a positive linear relationship between the expectancy model and activity in frontoparietal brain areas including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and dorsomedial PFC. While an exploratory analysis found a linear relationship consistent with the associated strength model in the insula and early visual cortex, our primary results are consistent with the view that conscious expectancy contributes to CRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Grégoire
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
- Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M, College Station, TX 77843-4235, USA
| | - Tyler D Robinson
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
| | - Jong Moon Choi
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
- Statistical Methodology Division, Statistics Research Institute, Daejeon 35208, South Korea
| | - Steven G Greening
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 2N2, Canada
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8
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Poplin T, Ironside M, Kuplicki R, Aupperle RL, Guinjoan SM, Khalsa SS, Stewart JL, Victor TA, Paulus MP, Kirlic N. The unique face of anxious depression: Increased sustained threat circuitry response during fear acquisition. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.17.562565. [PMID: 37905149 PMCID: PMC10614928 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.17.562565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Background Sensitivity to threat with dysregulation of fear learning is thought to contribute to the development of psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders (AD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, fewer studies have examined fear learning in MDD than in AD. Nearly half of individuals with MDD have an AD and the comorbid diagnosis has worse outcomes. The current study used propensity matching to examine the hypothesis that AD+MDD shows greater neural correlates of fear learning than MDD, suggesting that the co-occurrence of AD+MDD is exemplified by exaggerated defense related processes. Methods 195 individuals with MDD (N = 65) or AD+MDD (N=130) were recruited from the community and completed multi-level assessments, including a Pavlovian fear learning task during functional imaging. Results MDD and AD+MDD showed significantly different patterns of activation for [CSplus-CSminus] in the medial amygdala (ηp2=0.009), anterior insula (ηp2=0.01), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (ηp2=0.002), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ηp2=0.01), mid-cingulate cortex (ηp2=0.01) and posterior cingulate cortex (ηp2=0.02). These differences were driven by greater activation to the CS+ in late conditioning phases in ADD+MDD relative to MDD. Conclusions AD+MDD showed a pattern of increased sustained activation in regions identified with fear learning. Effects were consistently driven by the threat condition, further suggesting fear signaling as the emergent target process. Differences emerged in regions associated with salience processing, attentional orienting/conflict, and self-relevant processing.These findings help to elucidate the fear signaling mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of comorbid anxiety and depression, thereby highlighting promising treatment targets for this prevalent treatment group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tate Poplin
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
| | - Maria Ironside
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
- University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Rayus Kuplicki
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
| | - Robin L. Aupperle
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
- University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Salvador M. Guinjoan
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
- University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Sahib S. Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
- University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Jennifer L. Stewart
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
- University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Teresa A. Victor
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
| | - Martin P. Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
- University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Namik Kirlic
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, USA
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Sandström A, Ellerbrock I, Tour J, Kadetoff D, Jensen K, Kosek E. Dysfunctional Activation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex During Pain Anticipation Is Associated With Altered Subsequent Pain Experience in Fibromyalgia Patients. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2023; 24:1731-1743. [PMID: 37354157 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
The ability to accurately predict pain is an adaptive feature in healthy individuals. However, in chronic pain, this mechanism may be selectively impaired and can lead to increased anxiety and excessive avoidance behavior. Recently, we reported the first data demonstrating brain activation in fibromyalgia (FM) patients during conditioned pain responses, in which FM patients revealed a tendency to form new pain-related associations rather than extinguishing irrelevant ones. The aim of the present study was to extend our previous analysis, to elucidate potential neural divergences between subjects with FM (n = 65) and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 33) during anticipatory information (ie, prior to painful stimulus onset). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the current analyses include 1) a congruently cued paradigm of low and high pain predictive cues, followed by 2) an incongruently cued paradigm where low and high pain predictive cues were followed by an identical mid-intensity painful pressure. During incongruently cued high-pain associations, FM exhibited reduced left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activation compared to HCs, which was followed by an altered subsequent pain experience in FM, as patients continued to rate the following painful stimuli as high, even though the pressure had been lowered. During congruently cued low pain anticipation, FM exhibited decreased right dlPFC activation compared to HCs, as well as decreased brain connectivity between brain regions implicated in cognitive modulation of pain (dlPFC) and nociceptive processing (primary somatosensory cortex/postcentral gyrus [S1] and supplementary motor area [SMA]/midcingulate cortex [MCC]). These results may reflect an important feature of validating low pain expectations in HCs and help elucidate behavioral reports of impaired safety processing in FM patients. PERSPECTIVE: FM exhibited a stronger conditioned pain response for high-pain associations, which was associated with reduced dlPFC activation during the incongruent trial. During (congruent and incongruent) low pain associations, FM dlPFC brain activation remained indifferent. Imbalances in threat and safety pain perception may be an important target for psychotherapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelica Sandström
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Isabel Ellerbrock
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jeanette Tour
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Oncology and Surgery, Blekinge Hospital, Karlskrona, Sweden
| | - Diana Kadetoff
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Stockholm Spine Center, Löwenströmska Hospital, Upplands Väsby, Sweden
| | - Karin Jensen
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Eva Kosek
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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10
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Wisniewski D, Braem S, González-García C, De Houwer J, Brass M. Effects of Experiencing CS-US Pairings on Instructed Fear Reversal. J Neurosci 2023; 43:5546-5558. [PMID: 37414559 PMCID: PMC10376932 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0665-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear learning allows us to identify and anticipate aversive events and adapt our behavior accordingly. This is often thought to rely on associative learning mechanisms where an initially neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US), eventually leading to the CS also being perceived as aversive and threatening. Importantly, however, humans also show verbal fear learning. Namely, they have the ability to change their responses to stimuli rapidly through verbal instructions about CS-US pairings. Past research on the link between experience-based and verbal fear learning indicated that verbal instructions about a reversal of CS-US pairings can fully override the effects of previously experienced CS-US pairings, as measured through fear ratings, skin conductance, and fear-potentiated startle. However, it remains an open question whether such instructions can also annul learned CS representations in the brain. Here, we used a fear reversal paradigm (female and male participants) in conjunction with representational similarity analysis of fMRI data to test whether verbal instructions fully override the effects of experienced CS-US pairings in fear-related brain regions or not. Previous research suggests that only the right amygdala should show lingering representations of previously experienced threat ("pavlovian trace"). Unexpectedly, we found evidence for the residual effect of prior CS-US experience to be much more widespread than anticipated, in the amygdala but also cortical regions like the dorsal anterior cingulate or dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This finding shines a new light on the interaction of different fear learning mechanisms, at times with unexpected consequences.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans are able to learn about aversive stimuli both from experience (i.e., repeated pairings of conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US; pavlovian conditioning), and from verbal instructions about stimulus pairings. Understanding how experience-based and verbal learning processes interact is key for understanding the cognitive and neural underpinnings of fear learning. We tested whether prior aversive experiences (CS-US pairings) affected subsequent verbal learning, searching for lingering threat signals after verbal instructions reversed a CS from being threatening to being safe. While past research suggested such threat signals can only be found in the amygdala, we found evidence to be much more widespread, including the medial and lateral PFC. This highlights how experience-based and verbal learning processes interact to support adaptive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Wisniewski
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Senne Braem
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Carlos González-García
- Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Centre, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Jan De Houwer
- Department of Experimental Clinical Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marcel Brass
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain/Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany
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Cui H, Zhang Y, Zhao Y, Zhao Y, Ding Q, Chen R, Manssuer L, Zhang C, Liu W, Li D, Sun B, Voon V. Mechanisms underlying capsulotomy for refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder: neural correlates of negative affect processing overlap with deep brain stimulation targets. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:3063-3074. [PMID: 36878966 PMCID: PMC10615758 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-01989-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Abstract
Ablative procedures such as anterior capsulotomy are potentially effective in refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Converging evidence suggests the ventral internal capsule white matter tracts traversing the rostral cingulate and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and thalamus is the optimal target for clinical efficacy across multiple deep brain stimulation targets for OCD. Here we ask which prefrontal regions and underlying cognitive processes might be implicated in the effects of capsulotomy by using both task fMRI and neuropsychological tests assessing OCD-relevant cognitive mechanisms known to map across prefrontal regions connected to the tracts targeted in capsulotomy. We tested OCD patients at least 6 months post-capsulotomy (n = 27), OCD controls (n = 33) and healthy controls (n = 34). We used a modified aversive monetary incentive delay paradigm with negative imagery and a within session extinction trial. Post-capsulotomy OCD subjects showed improved OCD symptoms, disability and quality of life with no differences in mood or anxiety or cognitive task performance on executive, inhibition, memory and learning tasks. Task fMRI revealed post-capsulotomy decreases in the nucleus accumbens during negative anticipation, and in the left rostral cingulate and left inferior frontal cortex during negative feedback. Post-capsulotomy patients showed attenuated accumbens-rostral cingulate functional connectivity. Rostral cingulate activity mediated capsulotomy improvement on obsessions. These regions overlap with optimal white matter tracts observed across multiple stimulation targets for OCD and might provide insights into further optimizing neuromodulation approaches. Our findings also suggest that aversive processing theoretical mechanisms may link ablative, stimulation and psychological interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hailun Cui
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Yingying Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Center for Functional Neurosurgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Neural and Intelligence Engineering Centre, Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yijie Zhao
- Neural and Intelligence Engineering Centre, Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ying Zhao
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Qiong Ding
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Ruiqin Chen
- Neural and Intelligence Engineering Centre, Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Luis Manssuer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Chencheng Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Center for Functional Neurosurgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Wenjuan Liu
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Dianyou Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, Center for Functional Neurosurgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
| | - Bomin Sun
- Department of Neurosurgery, Center for Functional Neurosurgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
| | - Valerie Voon
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
- Neural and Intelligence Engineering Centre, Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
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Kampa M, Hermann A, Stark R, Klucken T. Neural correlates of immediate versus delayed extinction when simultaneously varying the time of the test in humans. Cereb Cortex 2023:bhad205. [PMID: 37317067 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are effectively treated with exposure therapy based on the extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning. Animal research indicates that both the timing of extinction and test are important factors to reduce the return of fear. However, empirical evidence in humans is incomplete and inconsistent. In this neuroimaging study, we, therefore, tested 103 young, healthy participants in a 2-factorial between-subjects design with the factors extinction group (immediate, delayed) and test group (+1 day and +7 days). Immediate extinction led to greater retention of fear memory at the beginning of extinction training indicated by increased skin conductance responses. A return of fear was observed in both extinction groups, with a trend toward a greater return of fear in immediate extinction. The return of fear was generally higher in groups with an early test. Neuroimaging results show successful cross-group fear acquisition and retention, as well as activation of the left nucleus accumbens during extinction training. Importantly, the delayed extinction group showed a larger bilateral nucleus accumbens activation during test. This nucleus accumbens finding is discussed in terms of salience, contingency, relief, and prediction error processing. It may imply that the delayed extinction group benefits more from the test as a new learning opportunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Kampa
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen 57072, Germany
- Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
| | - Andrea Hermann
- Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
| | - Rudolf Stark
- Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
| | - Tim Klucken
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Siegen 57072, Germany
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Bang M, Kim B, Lee KS, Choi TK, Lee SH. Long-term benefits of mindfulness on white matter tracts underlying the cortical midline structures in panic disorder: A 2-year longitudinal study. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2023; 77:355-364. [PMID: 36917206 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.13544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
AIMS We aimed to examine the long-term benefits of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on white matter plasticity in the cortical midline structures (CMS) for a period of 2 years in patients with panic disorder and the relationships between white matter changes in the CMS and severity of state and trait symptoms. METHODS Seventy-one participants were enrolled and underwent diffusion tensor imaging at baseline and after 2 years (26 who received MBCT as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy [MBCT+PT], 20 treated with pharmacotherapy alone [PT-alone], and 25 healthy controls [HCs]). The severity of symptoms and fractional anisotropy (FA) in white matter regions underlying the CMS were assessed at baseline and 2-year follow-up. RESULTS The MBCT+PT group showed better outcomes after 2 years than the PT-alone group. The groups showed different FA changes: the MBCT+PT group showed decreased FA in the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); the PT-alone group showed increased FA in the bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and precuneus. Decreased white matter FA in the ACC, PCC, and precuneus was associated with improvements in the severity of state and trait symptoms in patients with panic disorder. CONCLUSION Alleviation of excessive white matter connectivity in the CMS after MBCT leads to improvements in clinical symptoms and trait vulnerability in patients with panic disorder. Our study provides new evidence for the long-term benefits of MBCT on white matter plasticity and its clinical applicability as a robust treatment for panic disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minji Bang
- Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Borah Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Kang Soo Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Tai Kiu Choi
- Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang-Hyuk Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
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14
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Sege CT, McTeague LM, Kegley M, Shacklewood C, Halliday CA, Calhoun CD, Joseph JE, Adams ZW, Hajcak G, Danielson CK. Neurophysiology of predictable unpleasant event processing in preadolescents and early adolescents, part I: Event-related potential markers of unpleasant image anticipation and processing. Dev Psychobiol 2023; 65:e22383. [PMID: 37073594 PMCID: PMC11071696 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Revised: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023]
Abstract
The ability to anticipate and process predictable unpleasant events, while also regulating emotional reactivity, is an adaptive skill. The current article and a companion in this issue test for potential changes in predictable event processing across the childhood-to-adolescence transition, a key developmental period for biological systems that support cognitive/emotional abilities. While the companion article focuses on emotion regulation and peripheral attention modulation in predictable unpleasant contexts, the current paper presents neurophysiological markers of predictable event processing itself. 315 third-, sixth-, or ninth-grade individuals saw 5-s cues predicting "scary," "every day," or uncertain image content; in this paper, cue- and picture-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) are analyzed. During the cue, early ERP positivities were increased and later slow-wave negativities were reduced when predicted content was scary as compared with mundane. After picture onset, a picture processing-related positivity was then increased for scary compared with everyday images regardless of predictability. Cue-interval data suggest enhanced processing of scary cues and reduced anticipatory processing of scary images-opposite to adults. After event onset, meanwhile, emotional ERP enhancement regardless of predictability is similar to adults and suggests that even preadolescent individuals maintain preferential engagement with unpleasant events when they are predictable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher T. Sege
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - Lisa M. McTeague
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - Molly Kegley
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
- Psychology Department, University of Tulsa, USA
| | - Curtisha Shacklewood
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - Colleen A. Halliday
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - Casey D. Calhoun
- Chapel Hill Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, USA
| | - Jane E. Joseph
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | | | - Greg Hajcak
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, USA
| | - Carla Kmett Danielson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
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15
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Thomaidou MA, Blythe JS, Peerdeman KJ, van Laarhoven AIM, Van Schothorst MME, Veldhuijzen DS, Evers AWM. Learned Nocebo Effects on Cutaneous Sensations of Pain and Itch: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Experimental Behavioral Studies on Healthy Humans. Psychosom Med 2023; 85:308-321. [PMID: 36961347 PMCID: PMC10171297 DOI: 10.1097/psy.0000000000001194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE In past decades, the field of nocebo research has focused on studying how sensory perception can be shaped by learning. Nocebo effects refer to aggravated sensory experiences or increased sensitivity to sensations such as pain and itch resulting from treatment-related negative experiences. Behavioral conditioning and verbal suggestions of a negative treatment outcome may aggravate pain and itch perception. Gaining a comprehensive view of the magnitude of nocebo effects and contributing factors will help steer nocebo research toward fruitful directions for understanding complex sensory phenomena. METHODS We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of a total of 37 distinct experimental nocebo studies on healthy participants (all published in English between 2008 and 2021), with four separate meta-analyses for nocebo effects on pain or itch. We conducted subgroup analyses and meta-regression on factors such as type and intensity of sensory stimuli, and length of conditioning paradigms. RESULTS This meta-analysis showed that, on average, effect sizes of nocebo effects were moderate to large (Hedges g between 0.26 and 0.71 for the four primary outcomes). The combination of conditioning and verbal suggestions yielded stronger nocebo responses on pain in particular. Subgroup analyses, including factors such as the type of sensory stimulation, did not explain the moderate heterogeneity in nocebo magnitudes between different studies. Risk of bias was generally low and was not related to nocebo magnitudes either. CONCLUSIONS We discuss these results in relation to the role of conditioning and aversive learning, and we recommend more consistency in designing and reporting nocebo experiments.
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Neumann N, Fullana MA, Radua J, Brandt T, Dieterich M, Lotze M. Common neural correlates of vestibular stimulation and fear learning: an fMRI meta-analysis. J Neurol 2023; 270:1843-1856. [PMID: 36723684 PMCID: PMC10025232 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-023-11568-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A bidirectional functional link between vestibular and fear-related disorders has been previously suggested. OBJECTIVE To test a potential overlap of vestibular and fear systems with regard to their brain imaging representation maps. METHODS By use of voxel-based mapping permutation of subject images, we conducted a meta-analysis of earlier functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies applying vestibular stimulation and fear conditioning in healthy volunteers. RESULTS Common clusters of concordance of vestibular stimulation and fear conditioning were found in the bilateral anterior insula cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the right temporal pole, bilaterally in the adjacent ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus, secondary somatosensory cortex, superior temporal and intraparietal lobe, supplementary motor area and premotor cortex, as well as subcortical areas, such as the bilateral thalamus, mesencephalic brainstem including the collicular complex, pons, cerebellar vermis and bilateral cerebellar hemispheres. Peak areas of high concordance for activations during vestibular stimulation but deactivations during fear conditioning were centered on the posterior insula and S2. CONCLUSIONS The structural overlap of both networks allows the following functional interpretations: first, the amygdala, superior colliculi, and antero-medial thalamus might represent a release of preprogramed sensorimotor patterns of approach or avoidance. Second, the activation (vestibular system) and deactivation (fear system) of the bilateral posterior insula is compatible with the view that downregulation of the fear network by acute vestibular disorders or unfamiliar vestibular stimulation makes unpleasant perceived body accelerations less distressing. This also fits the clinical observation that patients with bilateral vestibular loss suffer from less vertigo-related anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Neumann
- German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (DSGZ), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Functional Imaging Unit, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Walther-Rathenau-Str. 46, 17475, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Miquel A Fullana
- Adult Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), CIBERSAM, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joaquim Radua
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), CIBERSAM, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Thomas Brandt
- German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (DSGZ), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Marianne Dieterich
- German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (DSGZ), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- SyNergy-Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology, Munich, Germany
| | - Martin Lotze
- Functional Imaging Unit, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Walther-Rathenau-Str. 46, 17475, Greifswald, Germany.
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Feng P, Becker B, Zhou F, Feng T, Chen Z. Sleep deprivation altered encoding of basolateral amygdala on fear acquisition. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2655-2668. [PMID: 35699604 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Revised: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Sleep deprivation (SD) may lead to the development of fear- and anxiety-related emotional disorders. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of SD on fear acquisition are unclear. Here, we tested whether and how SD influences the behavioral and neural manifestations of fear acquisition. We found that subjective fear ratings and objective fear indices (skin conductance response [SCR]) in the SD group were greater than those in the control group during fear acquisition, suggesting that SD facilitated fear acquisition (nSD = 18 and ncontrol = 23 for self-reported rating analysis; nSD = 10 and ncontrol = 10 for SCR analysis). Neuroimaging data showed that the SD group exhibited stronger activity in the left basolateral amygdala (BLA) and left superficial amygdala (SFA). Moreover, the left BLA activity, which positively correlated with the objective fear indices, significantly mediated the effect of SD on fear acquisition. Together, the present findings indicate that SD facilitates fear acquisition by augmenting threat-specific encoding in the BLA, which may be a potential biomarker of the risk of developing fear-related disorders under traumatic and distressing situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pan Feng
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Benjamin Becker
- High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Feng Zhou
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Tingyong Feng
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Zhiyi Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
- Department of Psychology, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400000, China
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Kampa M, Sebastian A, Tüscher O, Stark R, Klucken T. Refocus on stopping! Replication of reduced right amygdala reactivity to negative, visual primes during inhibition of motor responses. NEUROIMAGE: REPORTS 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2022.100151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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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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20
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Comparison of behavioral and brain indices of fear renewal during a standard vs. novel immersive reality Pavlovian fear extinction paradigm in healthy adults. Behav Brain Res 2023; 437:114154. [PMID: 36244544 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Pavlovian conditioning paradigms model the learned fear associations inherent in posttraumatic stress disorder, including the renewal of inappropriate fear responses following extinction learning. However, very few studies in humans investigate the underlying neural mechanisms involved in fear renewal despite its clinical importance. To address this issue, our lab designed a novel, immersive-reality Pavlovian fear acquisition, extinction, recall, and renewal paradigm. We utilized an ecological threat - a snake striking towards the participant - as the unconditioned stimulus (US). Context and background were dynamic and included both visual and auditory cues that are relevant to everyday life. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral measures (US expectancy ratings), we examined the validity of this Novel paradigm in healthy adults (n = 49) and compared it to a Standard, well-validated 2D paradigm (n = 28). The Novel paradigm, compared to the Standard, was associated with greater hippocampal activation throughout the task. Participants who underwent the Standard paradigm, compared to the Novel, also displayed insula activation; however, this was not specific to stimulus or time. During fear renewal, the Novel paradigm was associated with dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation to CS+ (> CS-). Overall, we found that our Novel, immersive-reality paradigm, which features an ecologically relevant US, elicited greater corticolimbic activation. These results suggest that immersive Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigms paired with innately fearful stimuli may improve translatability of preclinical paradigms to clinical interventions for fear-based disorders.
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Stopyra MA, Simon JJ, Rheude C, Nikendei C. Pathophysiological aspects of complex PTSD - a neurobiological account in comparison to classic posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder. Rev Neurosci 2023; 34:103-128. [PMID: 35938987 DOI: 10.1515/revneuro-2022-0014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Despite a great diagnostic overlap, complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) has been recognised by the ICD-11 as a new, discrete entity and recent empirical evidence points towards a distinction from simple posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). The development and maintenance of these disorders is sustained by neurobiological alterations and studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may further contribute to a clear differentiation of CPTSD, PTSD and BPD. However, there are no existing fMRI studies directly comparing CPTSD, PTSD and BPD. In addition to a summarization of diagnostic differences and similarities, the current review aims to provide a qualitative comparison of neuroimaging findings on affective, attentional and memory processing in CPTSD, PTSD and BPD. Our narrative review alludes to an imbalance in limbic-frontal brain networks, which may be partially trans-diagnostically linked to the degree of trauma symptoms and their expression. Thus, CPTSD, PTSD and BPD may underlie a continuum where similar brain regions are involved but the direction of activation may constitute its distinct symptom expression. The neuronal alterations across these disorders may conceivably be better understood along a symptom-based continuum underlying CPTSD, PTSD and BPD. Further research is needed to amend for the heterogeneity in experimental paradigms and sample criteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion A Stopyra
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Joe J Simon
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christiane Rheude
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christoph Nikendei
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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22
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Chirumamilla VC, Gonzalez-Escamilla G, Meyer B, Anwar AR, Ding H, Radetz A, Bonertz T, Groppa S, Muthuraman M. Inhibitory and excitatory responses in the dorso-medial prefrontal cortex during threat processing. Front Neurosci 2023; 16:1065469. [PMID: 36699539 PMCID: PMC9868831 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1065469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective To evaluate cortical excitability during instructed threat processing. Methods Single and paired transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulses were applied to the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) during high-density electroencephalography (EEG) recording in young healthy participants (n = 17) performing an instructed threat paradigm in which one of two conditioned stimuli (CS+ but not CS-) was paired with an electric shock (unconditioned stimulus [US]). We assessed TMS-induced EEG responses with spectral power (both at electrode and source level) and information flow (effective connectivity) using Time-resolved Partial Directed Coherence (TPDC). Support vector regression (SVR) was used to predict behavioral fear ratings for CS+ based on TMS impact on excitability. Results During intracortical facilitation (ICF), frontal lobe theta power was enhanced for CS+ compared to single pulse TMS for the time window 0-0.5 s after TMS pulse onset (t(16) = 3.9, p < 0.05). At source level, ICF led to an increase and short intracortical inhibition (SICI) to a decrease of theta power in the bilateral dmPFC, relative to single pulse TMS during 0-0.5 s. Compared to single pulse TMS, ICF increased information flows, whereas SICI reduced the information flows in theta band between dmPFC, amygdala, and hippocampus (all at p < 0.05). The magnitude of information flows between dmPFC to amygdala and dmPFC to hippocampus during ICF (0-0.5 s), predicted individual behavioral fear ratings (CS+; coefficient above 0.75). Conclusion Distinct excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms take place in the dmPFC. These findings may facilitate future research attempting to investigate inhibitory/facilitatory mechanisms alterations in psychiatric disorders and their behavioral correlates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Venkata C. Chirumamilla
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Gabriel Gonzalez-Escamilla
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Benjamin Meyer
- Neuroimaging Center Mainz, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Abdul Rauf Anwar
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Hao Ding
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Angela Radetz
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Tamara Bonertz
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Sergiu Groppa
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Muthuraman Muthuraman
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany,*Correspondence: Muthuraman Muthuraman,
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23
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Zhu W, Chen J, Tian X, Wu X, Matkurban K, Qiu J, Xia LX. The brain correlates of hostile attribution bias and their relation to the displaced aggression. J Affect Disord 2022; 317:204-211. [PMID: 36029872 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.08.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hostile attribution bias (HAB) has been considered as a risk factor of various types of psychosocial adjustment problem, and contributes to displaced aggression (DA). The neural basis of HAB and the underlying mechanisms of how HAB predicts DA remain unclear. METHODS The current study used degree centrality (DC) and resting-sate functional connectivity (RSFC) to investigate the functional connection pattern related to HAB in 503 undergraduate students. Furthermore, the "Decoding" was used to investigate which psychological components the maps of the RSFC-behavior may be related to. Finally, to investigate whether and how the RSFC pattern, HAB predicts DA, we performed mediation analyses. RESULTS We found that HAB was negatively associated with DC in bilateral temporal poles (TP) and positively correlated with DC in the putamen and thalamus; Moreover, HAB was negatively associated with the strength of functional connectivity between TP and brain regions in the theory of mind network (ToM), and positively related to the strength of functional connectivity between the thalamus and regions in the ToM network. The "Decoding" showed the maps of the RSFC-behavior may involve the theory mind, autobiographic, language, comprehension and working memory. Mediation analysis further showed that HAB mediated the relationship between some neural correlates of the HAB and DA. LIMITATIONS The current results need to be further tested by experimental methods or longitudinal design in further studies. CONCLUSIONS These findings shed light on the neural underpinnings of HAB and provide a possible mediation model regarding the relationships among RSFC pattern, HAB, and displaced aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenfeng Zhu
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Jianxue Chen
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Xue Tian
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Xinyan Wu
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Kalbinur Matkurban
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China; Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Jiang Qiu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Southwest University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China.
| | - Ling-Xiang Xia
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Southwest University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China.
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24
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Klein S, Kruse O, Tapia León I, Van Oudenhove L, van 't Hof SR, Klucken T, Wager TD, Stark R. Cross-paradigm integration shows a common neural basis for aversive and appetitive conditioning. Neuroimage 2022; 263:119594. [PMID: 36041642 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Sharing imaging data and comparing them across different psychological tasks is becoming increasingly possible as the open science movement advances. Such cross-paradigm integration has the potential to identify commonalities in findings that neighboring areas of study thought to be paradigm-specific. However, even the integration of research from closely related paradigms, such as aversive and appetitive classical conditioning is rare - even though qualitative comparisons already hint at how similar the 'fear network' and 'reward network' may be. We aimed to validate these theories by taking a multivariate approach to assess commonalities across paradigms empirically. Specifically, we quantified the similarity of an aversive conditioning pattern derived from meta-analysis to appetitive conditioning fMRI data. We tested pattern expression in three independent appetitive conditioning studies with 29, 76 and 38 participants each. During fMRI scanning, participants in each cohorts performed an appetitive conditioning task in which a CS+ was repeatedly rewarded with money and a CS- was never rewarded. The aversive pattern was highly similar to appetitive CS+ > CS- contrast maps across samples and variations of the appetitive conditioning paradigms. Moreover, the pattern distinguished the CS+ from the CS- with above-chance accuracy in every sample. These findings provide robust empirical evidence for an underlying neural system common to appetitive and aversive learning. We believe that this approach provides a way to empirically integrate the steadily growing body of fMRI findings across paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanja Klein
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany; Bender Institute for Neuroimaging (BION), Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany; Center of Mind, Brain and Behavior, Universities of Marburg and Giessen, Marburg 35032, Germany.
| | - Onno Kruse
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany; Bender Institute for Neuroimaging (BION), Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany
| | - Isabell Tapia León
- Bender Institute for Neuroimaging (BION), Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany; Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University Siegen, Siegen 57076, Germany
| | - Lukas Van Oudenhove
- Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism (CHROMETA), Laboratory for Brain-Gut Axis Studies (LaBGAS), Translational Research Centre for Gastrointestinal Disorders TARGID, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Sophie R van 't Hof
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, The Netherlands
| | - Tim Klucken
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University Siegen, Siegen 57076, Germany
| | - Tor D Wager
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Rudolf Stark
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany; Bender Institute for Neuroimaging (BION), Justus Liebig University, Giessen 35394, Germany; Center of Mind, Brain and Behavior, Universities of Marburg and Giessen, Marburg 35032, Germany
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25
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Burleigh L, Jiang X, Greening SG. Fear in the Theater of the Mind: Differential Fear Conditioning With Imagined Stimuli. Psychol Sci 2022; 33:1423-1439. [PMID: 35895306 DOI: 10.1177/09567976221086513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Many symptoms of anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder are elicited by fearful mental imagery. Yet little is known about how visual imagery of conditioned stimuli (CSs) affects the acquisition of differential fear conditioning. Across three experiments with younger human adults (Experiment 1: n = 33, Experiment 2: n = 27, Experiment 3: n = 26), we observed that participants acquired differential fear conditioning to both viewed and imagined percepts serving as the CSs, as measured via self-reported fear and skin conductance responses. Additionally, this differential conditioning generalized across CS-percept modalities such that differential conditioning acquired in response to visual percepts generalized to the corresponding imagined percepts and vice versa. This is novel evidence that perceived and imagined stimuli engage learning processes in very similar ways and is consistent with the theory that mental imagery is depictive and recruits neural resources shared with visual perception. Our findings also provide new insight into the mechanisms of anxiety and related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauryn Burleigh
- Department of Psychology, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Louisiana State University
| | - Xinrui Jiang
- Department of Psychology, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Louisiana State University
| | - Steven G Greening
- Department of Psychology, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Louisiana State University.,Department of Psychology, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Manitoba
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26
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Behavioral and neural responses during fear conditioning and extinction in a large transdiagnostic sample. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 35:103060. [PMID: 35679785 PMCID: PMC9189200 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral and neural responses during Pavlovian fear learning were examined in a large sample of healthy and individuals with anxiety and depression. Latent profile models to threat were derived from behavioral and neural data. Demographic, cognitive, and psychological variables did not robustly characterize latent profiles. Neuroimaging data did not evidence functional role of amygdala in fear learning. Human fear learning recruited a distributed network of regions involved in interoceptive, cognitive, motivational, and psychomotor processes.
Background Dysregulation of fear learning has been associated with psychiatric disorders that have altered positive and negative valence domain function. While amygdala-insula-prefrontal circuitry is considered important for fear learning, there have been inconsistencies in neural findings in healthy and clinical human samples. This study aimed to delineate the neural substrates and behavioral responses during fear learning in a large, transdiagnostic sample with predominantly depressive and/or anxious dysfunction. Methods Two-hundred and eighty-two individuals (52 healthy participants; 230 participants with depression and/or anxiety-related problems) from the Tulsa 1000 study, an ongoing, naturalistic longitudinal study based on a dimensional psychopathological framework, completed a Pavlovian fear learning task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Linear mixed-effects analyses examined condition-by-time effects on brain activation (CS+, CS- across familiarization, conditioning, and extinction trials). A data-driven latent profile analysis (LPA) examined distinct patterns of behavioral and neural responses to threat across fear conditioning and extinction, while logistic regression analyses evaluated cognitive-affective predictors of latent profiles. Results Whole-brain analyses revealed a condition-by-time interaction in the anterior insula, postcentral gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and cerebellum but not amygdala. The LPA identified distinct latent profiles across subjective and neural levels of measurement. Anterior insula profiles were characterized by marginal differences in age and state anxiety. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that human fear learning recruits a distributed network of regions involved in interoceptive, cognitive, motivational, and psychomotor processes. Data-driven analyses identified distinct profiles of subjective and neural responses during fear learning that transcended clinical diagnoses, but no robust relationships to demographic or cognitive-affective variable were identified.
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27
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Fraunfelter L, Gerdes ABM, Alpers GW. Fear one, fear them all: A systematic review and meta-analysis of fear generalization in pathological anxiety. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 139:104707. [PMID: 35643120 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
It is a defining feature of anxiety disorders that fear is elicited by a circumscribed class of stimuli rather than by only one specific exemplar of that class. Therefore, fear generalization, a mechanism by which associative fear extends from one conditioned stimulus to similar cues, has been central to theories on anxiety. Yet, experimental evidence for the link between generalization and pathological anxiety, as well as its moderators, has not been formally integrated. This systematic review and meta-analysis of empirical findings clarifies the relationship between fear generalization and pathological anxiety. In conclusion, enhanced fear generalization is associated with several anxiety disorders and stress-related disorders, which is supported statistically by a small, but robust effect size of g = 0.44 for risk ratings as an index of fear generalization. However, empirical results are inconsistent across disorders and they rarely allow for conclusions on their causality in the disorders' etiology. Therefore, based on theoretical considerations, we recommend directions for intensified research, especially on the causal relationship between overgeneralization and pathological fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Fraunfelter
- University of Mannheim, School of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, L13, 17, 68131 Mannheim, Germany.
| | - A B M Gerdes
- University of Mannheim, School of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, L13, 17, 68131 Mannheim, Germany.
| | - G W Alpers
- University of Mannheim, School of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, L13, 17, 68131 Mannheim, Germany.
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28
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Wendt J, Morriss J. An examination of Intolerance of Uncertainty and contingency instruction on multiple indices during threat acquisition and extinction training. Int J Psychophysiol 2022; 177:171-178. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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29
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Abend R, Burk D, Ruiz SG, Gold AL, Napoli JL, Britton JC, Michalska KJ, Shechner T, Winkler AM, Leibenluft E, Pine DS, Averbeck BB. Computational modeling of threat learning reveals links with anxiety and neuroanatomy in humans. eLife 2022; 11:66169. [PMID: 35473766 PMCID: PMC9197395 DOI: 10.7554/elife.66169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Influential theories implicate variations in the mechanisms supporting threat learning in the severity of anxiety symptoms. We use computational models of associative learning in conjunction with structural imaging to explicate links among the mechanisms underlying threat learning, their neuroanatomical substrates, and anxiety severity in humans. We recorded skin-conductance data during a threat-learning task from individuals with and without anxiety disorders (N=251; 8-50 years; 116 females). Reinforcement-learning model variants quantified processes hypothesized to relate to anxiety: threat conditioning, threat generalization, safety learning, and threat extinction. We identified the best-fitting models for these processes and tested associations among latent learning parameters, whole-brain anatomy, and anxiety severity. Results indicate that greater anxiety severity related specifically to slower safety learning and slower extinction of response to safe stimuli. Nucleus accumbens gray-matter volume moderated learning-anxiety associations. Using a modeling approach, we identify computational mechanisms linking threat learning and anxiety severity and their neuroanatomical substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rany Abend
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, United States
| | - Diana Burk
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, United States
| | - Sonia G Ruiz
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, United States
| | - Andrea L Gold
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, United States
| | - Julia L Napoli
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, United States
| | - Jennifer C Britton
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, United States
| | - Kalina J Michalska
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, United States
| | - Tomer Shechner
- Psychology Department, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Anderson M Winkler
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, United States
| | - Ellen Leibenluft
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, United States
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Besthesda, United States
| | - Bruno B Averbeck
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, United States
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30
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Balconi M, Sansone M, Angioletti L. Consumers in the Face of COVID-19-Related Advertising: Threat or Boost Effect? Front Psychol 2022; 13:834426. [PMID: 35345640 PMCID: PMC8957070 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.834426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the production of a vast amount of COVID-19-themed brand commercials, in an attempt to exploit the salience of the topic to reach more effectively the consumers. However, the literature has produced conflicting findings of the effectiveness of negative emotional contents in advertisings. The present study aims at exploring the effect of COVID-19-related contents on the hemodynamic brain correlates of the consumer approach or avoidance motivation. Twenty Italian participants were randomly assigned to two different groups that watched COVID-19-related or non-COVID-19-related commercials. The hemodynamic response [oxygenated (O2Hb) and deoxygenated hemoglobin modulations] within the left and right prefrontal cortices (PFC) was monitored with Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) while brand commercials were presented, as the prefrontal lateralization was shown to be indicative of the attitude toward the brand and of the approach-avoidance motivation. First, the findings showed that the COVID-19-related contents were able to prompt emotional processing within the PFC to a higher extent compared to contents non-related to COVID-19. Moreover, the single-channel analysis revealed increased O2Hb activity of the left dorsolateral PFC compared to the left pars triangularis Broca’s area in the group of participants that watched the COVID-19-related commercials, suggesting that the commercials may have driven participants to dedicate more attention toward the processing of the emotional components compared to the semantic meaning conveyed by the ad. To conclude, despite expressing unpleasant emotions, commercials referring to the highly emotional pandemic experience may benefit the advertising efficacy, increasing the capability to reach customers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michela Balconi
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.,Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Martina Sansone
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.,Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Angioletti
- International Research Center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.,Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
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31
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Labrenz F, Spisák T, Ernst TM, Gomes CA, Quick HH, Axmacher N, Elsenbruch S, Timmann D. Temporal dynamics of fMRI signal changes during conditioned interoceptive pain-related fear and safety acquisition and extinction. Behav Brain Res 2022; 427:113868. [PMID: 35364111 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Associative learning and memory mechanisms drive interoceptive signaling along the gut-brain axis, thus shaping affective-emotional reactions and behavior. Specifically, learning to predict potentially harmful, visceral pain is assumed to succeed within very few trials. However, the temporal dynamics of cerebellar and cerebral fMRI signal changes underlying early acquisition and extinction of learned fear signals and the concomitant evolvement of safety learning remain incompletely understood. 3T fMRI data of healthy individuals from three studies were uniformly processed across the whole brain and the cerebellum including an advanced normalizing method of the cerebellum. All studies employed differential delay conditioning (N=94) with one visual cue (CS+) being repeatedly paired with visceral pain as unconditioned stimulus (US) while a second cue remained unpaired (CS-). During subsequent extinction (N=51), all CS were presented without US. Behavioral results revealed increased CS+-aversiveness and CS--pleasantness after conditioning and diminished valence ratings for both CS following extinction. During early acquisition, the CS- induced linearly increasing neural activation in the insula, midcingulate cortex, hippocampus, precuneus as well as cerebral and cerebellar somatomotor regions. The comparison between acquisition and extinction phases yielded a CS--induced linear increase in the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus during early acquisition, while there was no evidence for linear fMRI signal changes for the CS+ during acquisition and for both CS during extinction. Based on theoretical accounts of discrimination and temporal difference learning, these results suggest a gradual evolvement of learned safety cues that engage emotional arousal, memory, and cortical modulatory networks. As safety signals are presumably more difficult to learn and to discriminate from learned threat cues, the underlying temporal dynamics may reflect enhanced salience and prediction processing as well as increasing demands for attentional resources and the integration of multisensory information. Maladaptive responses to learned safety signals are a clinically relevant phenotype in multiple conditions, including chronic visceral pain, and can be exceptionally resistant to modification or extinction. Through sustained hypervigilance, safety seeking constitutes one key component in pain and stress-related avoidance behavior, calling for future studies targeting the mechanisms of safety learning and extinction to advance current cognitive-behavioral treatment approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Labrenz
- Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Faculty of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
| | - Tamás Spisák
- Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Thomas M Ernst
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Carlos A Gomes
- Department of Neuropsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Harald H Quick
- High-Field and Hybrid Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany; Erwin L. Hahn Institute for MR Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Nikolai Axmacher
- Department of Neuropsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Sigrid Elsenbruch
- Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Faculty of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Dagmar Timmann
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences (C-TNBS), University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
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32
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Namkung H, Thomas KL, Hall J, Sawa A. Parsing neural circuits of fear learning and extinction across basic and clinical neuroscience: Towards better translation. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 134:104502. [PMID: 34921863 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Over the past decades, studies of fear learning and extinction have advanced our understanding of the neurobiology of threat and safety learning. Animal studies can provide mechanistic/causal insights into human brain regions and their functional connectivity involved in fear learning and extinction. Findings in humans, conversely, may further enrich our understanding of neural circuits in animals by providing macroscopic insights at the level of brain-wide networks. Nevertheless, there is still much room for improvement in translation between basic and clinical research on fear learning and extinction. Through the lens of neural circuits, in this article, we aim to review the current knowledge of fear learning and extinction in both animals and humans, and to propose strategies to fill in the current knowledge gap for the purpose of enhancing clinical benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ho Namkung
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA
| | - Kerrie L Thomas
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK; School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Jeremy Hall
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK; School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Akira Sawa
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
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33
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Palomero-Gallagher N, Amunts K. A short review on emotion processing: a lateralized network of neuronal networks. Brain Struct Funct 2022; 227:673-684. [PMID: 34216271 PMCID: PMC8844151 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02331-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Emotions are valenced mental responses and associated physiological reactions that occur spontaneously and automatically in response to internal or external stimuli, and can influence our behavior, and can themselves be modulated to a certain degree voluntarily or by external stimuli. They are subserved by large-scale integrated neuronal networks with epicenters in the amygdala and the hippocampus, and which overlap in the anterior cingulate cortex. Although emotion processing is accepted as being lateralized, the specific role of each hemisphere remains an issue of controversy, and two major hypotheses have been proposed. In the right-hemispheric dominance hypothesis, all emotions are thought to be processed in the right hemisphere, independent of their valence or of the emotional feeling being processed. In the valence lateralization hypothesis, the left is thought to be dominant for the processing of positively valenced stimuli, or of stimuli inducing approach behaviors, whereas negatively valenced stimuli, or stimuli inducing withdrawal behaviors, would be processed in the right hemisphere. More recent research points at the existence of multiple interrelated networks, each associated with the processing of a specific component of emotion generation, i.e., its generation, perception, and regulation. It has thus been proposed to move from hypotheses supporting an overall hemispheric specialization for emotion processing toward dynamic models incorporating multiple interrelated networks which do not necessarily share the same lateralization patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Palomero-Gallagher
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany.
- C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich-Heine-University, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, RWTH, Aachen, Germany.
| | - Katrin Amunts
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany
- C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich-Heine-University, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
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34
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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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35
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Cortisol before extinction generalization alters its neural correlates during retrieval. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022; 136:105607. [PMID: 34864329 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Revised: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
While generalization of fear seems to be naturally acquired as frequently observed in fear-related disorders, extinction learning appears to be stimulus-specific. Thus, treatments aiming to generalize extinction learning comprise the chance to overcome stimulus-specificity and consequently reduce relapse. One suggested candidate is the timing-dependent administration of the stress hormone cortisol. In the present pre-registered, three-day fear conditioning study, we aimed to create a generalized extinction memory trace in 60 healthy men and women using multiple sizes of one conditioned stimulus (CS+G; generalized) during extinction training, whereas the other CS (CS+N; non-generalized) and the CS- were solely presented in their original sizes. Extinction training took place either after pharmacological administration of 20 mg cortisol or placebo. Following successful fear acquisition on day one, generalization effects during extinction training and retrieval were investigated in the comparison of CS+G and CS+N. Insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activation for CS+G as compared to CS+N extending to the second half of extinction training indicated prolonged fear processing during extinction training for the CS+G on day two. During retrieval on day three, an activation of the anterior hippocampus occurred for CS+N minus CS+G in the cortisol but not in the placebo group. Additionally, a more posterior hippocampal activation (compared to the other hippocampal activation) was observed for the contrast CS+G minus CS+N. In accordance with our hypotheses, amygdala and dACC responding during reinstatement test was reduced for the CS+G as compared to CS+N. However, cortisol did not modulate amygdala responding, but abolished the CS+G/CS+N differentiation in the dACC relative to placebo. Generalization and cortisol effects were not mirrored in skin conductance responses. In conclusion, extinction generalization processes appear to rely on prolonged fear processing still present in the second half of extinction training that in turn leads to reduced fear-related processing after reinstatement. Cortisol administration prior to extinction training, however, selectively reduced fear-related activation for standard extinction but did not further reduce fear-related activation for extinction generalization.
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36
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Greening SG, Lee TH, Burleigh L, Grégoire L, Robinson T, Jiang X, Mather M, Kaplan J. Mental imagery can generate and regulate acquired differential fear conditioned reactivity. Sci Rep 2022; 12:997. [PMID: 35046506 PMCID: PMC8770773 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05019-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Mental imagery is an important tool in the cognitive control of emotion. The present study tests the prediction that visual imagery can generate and regulate differential fear conditioning via the activation and prioritization of stimulus representations in early visual cortices. We combined differential fear conditioning with manipulations of viewing and imagining basic visual stimuli in humans. We discovered that mental imagery of a fear-conditioned stimulus compared to imagery of a safe conditioned stimulus generated a significantly greater conditioned response as measured by self-reported fear, the skin conductance response, and right anterior insula activity (experiment 1). Moreover, mental imagery effectively down- and up-regulated the fear conditioned responses (experiment 2). Multivariate classification using the functional magnetic resonance imaging data from retinotopically defined early visual regions revealed significant decoding of the imagined stimuli in V2 and V3 (experiment 1) but significantly reduced decoding in these regions during imagery-based regulation (experiment 2). Together, the present findings indicate that mental imagery can generate and regulate a differential fear conditioned response via mechanisms of the depictive theory of imagery and the biased-competition theory of attention. These findings also highlight the potential importance of mental imagery in the manifestation and treatment of psychological illnesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven G Greening
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2, Canada.
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA.
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
| | - Tae-Ho Lee
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Lauryn Burleigh
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
| | - Laurent Grégoire
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
- Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
| | - Tyler Robinson
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
| | - Xinrui Jiang
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
| | - Mara Mather
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Jonas Kaplan
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
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37
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Influences of Social Learning in Individual Perception and Decision Making in People with Autism: A Computational Approach. Brain Inform 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-15037-1_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022] Open
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38
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Kenwood MM, Kalin NH, Barbas H. The prefrontal cortex, pathological anxiety, and anxiety disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:260-275. [PMID: 34400783 PMCID: PMC8617307 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01109-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Anxiety is experienced in response to threats that are distal or uncertain, involving changes in one's subjective state, autonomic responses, and behavior. Defensive and physiologic responses to threats that involve the amygdala and brainstem are conserved across species. While anxiety responses typically serve an adaptive purpose, when excessive, unregulated, and generalized, they can become maladaptive, leading to distress and avoidance of potentially threatening situations. In primates, anxiety can be regulated by the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which has expanded in evolution. This prefrontal expansion is thought to underlie primates' increased capacity to engage high-level regulatory strategies aimed at coping with and modifying the experience of anxiety. The specialized primate lateral, medial, and orbital PFC sectors are connected with association and limbic cortices, the latter of which are connected with the amygdala and brainstem autonomic structures that underlie emotional and physiological arousal. PFC pathways that interface with distinct inhibitory systems within the cortex, the amygdala, or the thalamus can regulate responses by modulating neuronal output. Within the PFC, pathways connecting cortical regions are poised to reduce noise and enhance signals for cognitive operations that regulate anxiety processing and autonomic drive. Specialized PFC pathways to the inhibitory thalamic reticular nucleus suggest a mechanism to allow passage of relevant signals from thalamus to cortex, and in the amygdala to modulate the output to autonomic structures. Disruption of specific nodes within the PFC that interface with inhibitory systems can affect the negative bias, failure to regulate autonomic arousal, and avoidance that characterize anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaux M Kenwood
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
- Neuroscience Training Program at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, USA
| | - Ned H Kalin
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
- Neuroscience Training Program at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, USA
- Wisconsin National Primate Center, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Helen Barbas
- Neural Systems Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
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39
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Murty DVPS, Song S, Morrow K, Kim J, Hu K, Pessoa L. Distributed and Multifaceted Effects of Threat and Safety. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 34:495-516. [PMID: 34942650 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
In the present fMRI study, we examined how anxious apprehension is processed in the human brain. A central goal of the study was to test the prediction that a subset of brain regions would exhibit sustained response profiles during threat periods, including the anterior insula, a region implicated in anxiety disorders. A second important goal was to evaluate the responses in the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminals, regions that have been suggested to be involved in more transient and sustained threat, respectively. A total of 109 participants performed an experiment in which they encountered "threat" or "safe" trials lasting approximately 16 sec. During the former, they experienced zero to three highly unpleasant electrical stimulations, whereas in the latter, they experienced zero to three benign electrical stimulations (not perceived as unpleasant). The timing of the stimulation during trials was randomized, and as some trials contained no stimulation, stimulation delivery was uncertain. We contrasted responses during threat and safe trials that did not contain electrical stimulation, but only the potential that unpleasant (threat) or benign (safe) stimulation could occur. We employed Bayesian multilevel analysis to contrast responses to threat and safe trials in 85 brain regions implicated in threat processing. Our results revealed that the effect of anxious apprehension is distributed across the brain and that the temporal evolution of the responses is quite varied, including more transient and more sustained profiles, as well as signal increases and decreases with threat.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Kesong Hu
- Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, MI
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40
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Visser RM, Bathelt J, Scholte HS, Kindt M. Robust BOLD Responses to Faces But Not to Conditioned Threat: Challenging the Amygdala's Reputation in Human Fear and Extinction Learning. J Neurosci 2021; 41:10278-10292. [PMID: 34750227 PMCID: PMC8672698 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0857-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Revised: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Most of our knowledge about human emotional memory comes from animal research. Based on this work, the amygdala is often labeled the brain's "fear center", but it is unclear to what degree neural circuitries underlying fear and extinction learning are conserved across species. Neuroimaging studies in humans yield conflicting findings, with many studies failing to show amygdala activation in response to learned threat. Such null findings are often treated as resulting from MRI-specific problems related to measuring deep brain structures. Here we test this assumption in a mega-analysis of three studies on fear acquisition (n = 98; 68 female) and extinction learning (n = 79; 53 female). The conditioning procedure involved the presentation of two pictures of faces and two pictures of houses: one of each pair was followed by an electric shock [a conditioned stimulus (CS+)], the other one was never followed by a shock (CS-), and participants were instructed to learn these contingencies. Results revealed widespread responses to the CS+ compared with the CS- in the fear network, including anterior insula, midcingulate cortex, thalamus, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, but not the amygdala, which actually responded stronger to the CS- Results were independent of spatial smoothing, and of individual differences in trait anxiety and conditioned pupil responses. In contrast, robust amygdala activation distinguished faces from houses, refuting the idea that a poor signal could account for the absence of effects. Moving forward, we suggest that, apart from imaging larger samples at higher resolution, alternative statistical approaches may be used to identify cross-species similarities in fear and extinction learning.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The science of emotional memory provides the foundation of numerous theories on psychopathology, including stress and anxiety disorders. This field relies heavily on animal research, which suggests a central role of the amygdala in fear learning and memory. However, this finding is not strongly corroborated by neuroimaging evidence in humans, and null findings are too easily explained away by methodological limitations inherent to imaging deep brain structures. In a large nonclinical sample, we find widespread BOLD activation in response to learned fear, but not in the amygdala. A poor signal could not account for the absence of effects. While these findings do not disprove the involvement of the amygdala in human fear learning, they challenge its typical portrayals and illustrate the complexities of translational science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renée M Visser
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Joe Bathelt
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
| | - H Steven Scholte
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Merel Kindt
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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41
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Andreatta M, Pauli P. Contextual modulation of conditioned responses in humans: A review on virtual reality studies. Clin Psychol Rev 2021; 90:102095. [PMID: 34763127 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Conditioned response (CRs) triggered by stimuli predicting aversive consequences have been confirmed across various species including humans, and were found to be exaggerated in anxious individuals and anxiety disorder patients. Importantly, contextual information may strongly modulate such conditioned responses (CR), however, there are several methodological boundaries in the translation of animal findings to humans, and from healthy individuals to patients. Virtual Reality (VR) is a useful technological tool for overcoming such boundaries. In this review, we summarize and evaluate human VR conditioning studies exploring the role of the context as conditioned stimulus or occasion setter for CRs. We observe that VR allows successful acquisition of conditioned anxiety and conditioned fear in response to virtual contexts and virtual cues, respectively. VR studies also revealed that spatial or temporal contextual information determine whether conditioned anxiety and conditioned fear become extinguished and/or return. Novel contexts resembling the threatening context foster conditioned fear but not conditioned anxiety, suggesting distinct context-related generalization processes. We conclude VR contexts are able to strongly modulate CRs and therefore allow a comprehensive investigation of the modulatory role of the context over CR in humans leading to conclusions relevant for non-VR and clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Andreatta
- Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Paul Pauli
- Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; Center of Mental Health, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
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42
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Petrie DJ, Chow SM, Geier CF. Effective Connectivity during an Avoidance-Based Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer Task. Brain Sci 2021; 11:1472. [PMID: 34827471 PMCID: PMC8615846 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11111472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Revised: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) refers to a phenomenon whereby a classically conditioned stimulus (CS) impacts the motivational salience of instrumental behavior. We examined behavioral response patterns and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based effective connectivity during an avoidance-based PIT task. Eleven participants (8 females; Mage = 28.2, SD = 2.8, range = 25-32 years) completed the task. Effective connectivity between a priori brain regions engaged during the task was determined using hemodynamic response function group iterative multiple model estimation (HRF-GIMME). Participants exhibited behavior that was suggestive of specific PIT, a CS previously associated with a reinforcing outcome increased instrumental responding directed at the same outcome. We did not find evidence for general PIT; a CS did not significantly increase instrumental responding towards a different but related outcome. Using HRF-GIMME, we recovered effective connectivity maps among corticostriatal circuits engaged during the task. Group-level paths revealed directional effects from left putamen to right insula and from right putamen to right cingulate. Importantly, a direct effect of specific PIT stimuli on blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activity in the left putamen was found. Results provide initial evidence of effective connectivity in key brain regions in an avoidance-based PIT task network. This study adds to the literature studying PIT effects in humans and employing GIMME models to understand how psychological phenomena are supported in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J. Petrie
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; (D.J.P.); (S.-M.C.)
| | - Sy-Miin Chow
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; (D.J.P.); (S.-M.C.)
- Social Science Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Charles F. Geier
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; (D.J.P.); (S.-M.C.)
- Social Science Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
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43
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Suarez-Jimenez B, Balderston NL, Bisby JA, Leshin J, Hsiung A, King JA, Pine DS, Burgess N, Grillon C, Ernst M. Location-dependent threat and associated neural abnormalities in clinical anxiety. Commun Biol 2021; 4:1263. [PMID: 34737386 PMCID: PMC8568971 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02775-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are characterized by maladaptive defensive responses to distal or uncertain threats. Elucidating neural mechanisms of anxiety is essential to understand the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. In fMRI, patients with pathological anxiety (ANX, n = 23) and healthy controls (HC, n = 28) completed a contextual threat learning paradigm in which they picked flowers in a virtual environment comprising a danger zone in which flowers were paired with shock and a safe zone (no shock). ANX compared with HC showed 1) decreased ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior hippocampus activation during the task, particularly in the safe zone, 2) increased insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex activation during the task, particularly in the danger zone, and 3) increased amygdala and midbrain/periaqueductal gray activation in the danger zone prior to potential shock delivery. Findings suggest that ANX engage brain areas differently to modulate context-appropriate emotional responses when learning to discriminate cues within an environment. Suarez-Jimenez and colleagues use a shock and safe zone experiment with fMRI imaging to examine how pathological anxiety disorders are manifested in the brain. Their findings suggest that safe and dangerous zones within the experiment alter activation in different brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez
- Neuroscience Department, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA. .,Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. .,National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Nicholas L Balderston
- National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.,University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - James A Bisby
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.,Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.,Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK
| | - Joseph Leshin
- National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Abigail Hsiung
- National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - John A King
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Daniel S Pine
- National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Neil Burgess
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.,Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.,Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Monique Ernst
- National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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44
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Kurth F, Zsadanyi SE, Luders E. Reduced age-related gray matter loss in the subgenual cingulate cortex in long-term meditators. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 15:2824-2832. [PMID: 34686969 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-021-00578-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that meditation practices have positive effects on brain ageing overall. The cingulate is known to be recruited during meditation, but research into possible effects of meditation on the ageing of the cingulate is currently missing. Thus, the present study was designed to help close this knowledge gap, with particular focus on the subgenual cingulate, a region involved in emotional regulation and autonomic and endocrine functions, making it potentially relevant for meditation. Here, we investigated differences in age-related gray matter loss between 50 long-term meditation practitioners (28 male, 22 female), aged between 24 and 77, and 50 age- and sex-matched controls. Areas of interest were four subregions of the subgenual cingulate gyrus (areas 25, 33, s24, and s32) defined as per the Julich-Brain atlas. Our study revealed a significant age-related decline in all subregions in both meditators and controls, but with significantly lower rates of annual tissue loss in meditators, specifically in left and right area s32 and right area 25. These regions have been shown to play a role in mood regulation, autonomic processing, and the integration of emotion and cognitive processes, which are all involved in and impacted by meditation. Overall, the results add further evidence to the emerging notion that meditation may slow the effects of ageing on the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Kurth
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.
| | - Sára E Zsadanyi
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
| | - Eileen Luders
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.,Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
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45
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Glenn DE, Feldman JS, Ivie EJ, Shechner T, Leibenluft E, Pine DS, Peters MAK, Michalska KJ. Social relevance modulates multivariate neural representations of threat generalization in children and adults. Dev Psychobiol 2021; 63:e22185. [PMID: 34674239 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Few studies have examined threat generalization across development and no developmental studies have compared the generalization of social versus nonsocial threat, making it difficult to identify contextual factors that contribute to threat learning across development. The present study assessed youth and adults' multivoxel neural representations of social versus nonsocial threat stimuli. Twenty adults (Mage = 25.7 ± 4.9) and 16 youth (Mage = 14.1 ± 1.7) completed two conditioning and extinction recall paradigms: one social and one nonsocial paradigm. Three weeks after conditioning, participants underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging extinction recall task that presented the extinguished threat cue (CS+), a safety cue (CS-), and generalization stimuli (GS) consisting of CS-/CS+ blends. Across age groups, neural activity patterns and self-reported fear and memory ratings followed a linear generalization gradient for social threat stimuli and a quadratic generalization gradient for nonsocial threat stimuli, indicating enhanced threat/safety discrimination for social relative to nonsocial threat stimuli. The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex displayed the greatest neural pattern differentiation between the CS+ and GS/CS-, reinforcing their role in threat learning and extinction recall. Contrary to predictions, age did not influence threat representations. These findings highlight the importance of the social relevance of threat on generalization across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana E Glenn
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Julia S Feldman
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Elizabeth J Ivie
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
| | - Tomer Shechner
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ellen Leibenluft
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Megan A K Peters
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Kalina J Michalska
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
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46
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Xue X, Li S, Li H, Li Q, Hua Y. Deactivation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex indicated low postoperative sports levels in presurgical patients with chronic ankle instability. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil 2021; 13:121. [PMID: 34627368 PMCID: PMC8501719 DOI: 10.1186/s13102-021-00353-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Injury-related fear contributed to disability in chronic ankle instability (CAI), while there still lacked exploration on the appraisal processes of the injury-related stimuli. This study aimed to compare the neural activities of the appraisal processes of sprain-related stimuli between presurgical chronic ankle instability patients and healthy controls through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and evaluate its relationships with the clinical outcomes of orthopedic surgeries. METHODS Eighteen presurgical CAI patients and fourteen healthy controls were recruited and underwent an fMRI session with visual stimulation of movies that showing typical ankle sprains accidents or control videos and the corresponding fear ratings. The clinical outcomes were collected at baseline and a minimum of 2 years after surgery; these included the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores, the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores, and the Tegner Activity Rating Scale scores. The two-sample t-test would be applied to identify which brain regions were influenced by CAI, and the correlation analysis would be applied to measure the relationship between the activation and clinical outcomes. RESULTS Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) was deactivated in CAI patients when compared with healthy controls, and the dACC deactivation strength revealed a moderate correlation with the values of fear ratings for all participants. The deactivation strength was negatively correlated with AOFAS at baseline, with Tegner at follow-up and its improvement. CONCLUSIONS Presurgical CAI patients presented deactivated dACC as a different neural activity of appraisal processes of sprain-related stimuli when compared with healthy controls, which was associated with lower postoperative sports levels. More comprehensive patients care including psychological interventions were needed in the clinical management of chronic ankle instability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao'ao Xue
- Department of Sports Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Wulumuqi Middle Road, Shanghai, 200040, China
| | - Shengkun Li
- Department of Sports Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Wulumuqi Middle Road, Shanghai, 200040, China
| | - Hongyun Li
- Department of Sports Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Wulumuqi Middle Road, Shanghai, 200040, China
| | - Qianru Li
- Department of Sports Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Wulumuqi Middle Road, Shanghai, 200040, China
| | - Yinghui Hua
- Department of Sports Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Wulumuqi Middle Road, Shanghai, 200040, China.
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47
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Guo J, Shubeck K, Hu X. Relationship Between Item and Source Memory: Explanation of Connection-Strength Model. Front Psychol 2021; 12:691577. [PMID: 34659007 PMCID: PMC8511408 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.691577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The controversy in the relationship between item memory and source memory is a focus of episodic memory. Some studies show the trade-off between item memory and source memory, some show the consistency between them, and others show the independence between them. This review attempts to point out the connection-strength model, implying the different types and strengths of the important role of the item-source connections in the relationship between item memory and source memory, which is based on the same essence in the unified framework. The logic of the model is that when item memory and source memory share the same or relevant connection between item and source, they positively connect, or they are independently or negatively connected. This review integrates empirical evidence from the domains of cognition, cognitive neuroscience, and mathematical modeling to validate our hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junjun Guo
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Keith Shubeck
- Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Xiangen Hu
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
- Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
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48
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Rahman SS, Mulvihill K, Wood CM, Quah SKL, Horst NK, Clarke HF, Cockcroft GJ, Santangelo AM, Roberts AC. Differential Contribution of Anterior and Posterior Midcingulate Subregions to Distal and Proximal Threat Reactivity in Marmosets. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:4765-4780. [PMID: 34076234 PMCID: PMC8408452 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Revised: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The midcingulate cortex (MCC) is associated with cognition and emotion regulation. Structural and correlational functional evidence suggests that rather than being homogenous, the MCC may have dissociable functions that can be mapped onto distinct subregions. In this study, we use the marmoset monkey to causally investigate the contributions of two proposed subregions of the MCC: the anterior and posterior midcingulate cortices (aMCC and pMCC) to behavioral and cardiovascular correlates of threat processing relevant to anxiety disorders. Transient inactivation of the aMCC decreased anxiety-like responses to a postencounter distal threat, namely an unfamiliar human intruder, while inactivation of the pMCC showed a mild but opposing effect. Furthermore, although inactivation of neither MCC subregions had any effect on basal cardiovascular activity, aMCC inactivation blunted the expression of both cardiovascular and behavioral conditioned responses to a predictable proximal threat (a rubber snake) during the extinction in a Pavlovian conditioning task, with pMCC inactivation having again an opposing effect, but primarily on the behavioral response. These findings suggest that the MCC is indeed functionally heterogeneous with regards to its role in threat processing, with aMCC providing a marked facilitative contribution to the expression of the emotional response to both proximal and distal threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sufia S Rahman
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Kevin Mulvihill
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
| | - Christian M Wood
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Shaun K L Quah
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Nicole K Horst
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Hannah F Clarke
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Gemma J Cockcroft
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Andrea M Santangelo
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Angela C Roberts
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
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49
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Intolerance of uncertainty is associated with heightened responding in the prefrontal cortex during cue-signalled uncertainty of threat. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 22:88-98. [PMID: 34312816 PMCID: PMC8791867 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-021-00932-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Heightened responding to uncertain threat is considered a hallmark of anxiety disorder pathology. We sought to determine whether individual differences in self-reported intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a key transdiagnostic dimension in anxiety-related pathology, underlies differential recruitment of neural circuitry during cue-signalled uncertainty of threat (n = 42). In an instructed threat of shock task, cues signalled uncertain threat of shock (50%) or certain safety from shock. Ratings of arousal and valence, skin conductance response (SCR), and functional magnetic resonance imaging were acquired. Overall, participants displayed greater ratings of arousal and negative valence, SCR, and amygdala activation to uncertain threat versus safe cues. IU was not associated with greater arousal ratings, SCR, or amygdala activation to uncertain threat versus safe cues. However, we found that high IU was associated with greater ratings of negative valence and greater activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsomedial rostral prefrontal cortex to uncertain threat versus safe cues. These findings suggest that during cue-signalled uncertainty of threat, individuals high in IU rate uncertain threat as aversive and engage prefrontal cortical regions known to be involved in safety-signalling and conscious threat appraisal. Taken together, these findings highlight the potential of IU in modulating safety-signalling and conscious appraisal mechanisms in situations with cue-signalled uncertainty of threat, which may be relevant to models of anxiety-related pathology.
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50
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Feng P, Chen Z, Becker B, Liu X, Zhou F, He Q, Qiu J, Lei X, Chen H, Feng T. Predisposing Variations in Fear-Related Brain Networks Prospectively Predict Fearful Feelings during the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:540-553. [PMID: 34297795 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 06/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a surge in mental distress and fear-related disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fear-related disorders are characterized by dysregulations in fear and the associated neural pathways. In the present study, we examined whether individual variations in the fear neural connectome can predict fear-related symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using machine learning algorithms and back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) deep learning algorithms, we demonstrated that the intrinsic neural connectome before the COVID-19 pandemic could predict who would develop high fear-related symptoms at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China (Accuracy rate = 75.00%, Sensitivity rate = 65.83%, Specificity rate = 84.17%). More importantly, prediction models could accurately predict the level of fear-related symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic by using the prepandemic connectome state, in which the functional connectivity of lvmPFC (left ventromedial prefrontal cortex)-rdlPFC (right dorsolateral), rdACC (right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex)-left insula, lAMY (left amygdala)-lHip (left hippocampus) and lAMY-lsgACC (left subgenual cingulate cortex) was contributed to the robust prediction. The current study capitalized on prepandemic data of the neural connectome of fear to predict participants who would develop high fear-related symptoms in COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that individual variations in the intrinsic organization of the fear circuits represent a neurofunctional marker that renders subjects vulnerable to experience high levels of fear during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pan Feng
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Zhiyi Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Benjamin Becker
- Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.,The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Xiqin Liu
- Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.,The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Feng Zhou
- Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.,The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Qinghua He
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Jiang Qiu
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Xu Lei
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Hong Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Tingyong Feng
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
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