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Zsido AN, Coelho CM, Polák J. Nature relatedness: A protective factor for snake and spider fears and phobias. PEOPLE AND NATURE 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Carlos M. Coelho
- Faculty of Psychology Chulalongkorn University Bangkok Thailand
- School of Psychology ISMAI University Institute of Maia Porto Portugal
- Center for Psychology at University of Porto Porto Portugal
| | - Jakub Polák
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts Charles University Klecany Czech Republic
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Kraus J, Roman R, Lacinová L, Lamoš M, Brázdil M, Fredrikson M. Imagery-induced negative affect, social touch and frontal EEG power band activity. Scand J Psychol 2020; 61:731-739. [PMID: 32572974 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Social touch seems to modulate emotions, but its brain correlates are poorly understood. Here, we investigated if frontal power band activity in the electroencephalogram (EEG) during aversive mental imagery is modulated by social touch from one's romantic partner and a stranger. We observed the highest theta and beta power when imaging alone, next so when being touched by a stranger, with lowest theta and beta activity during holding hands with the loved one. Delta power was higher when being alone than with a stranger or a partner, with no difference between the two. Gamma power was highest during the stranger condition and lower both when being alone and with the partner, while alpha power did not change as a function of social touch. Theta power displayed a positive correlation with electrodermal activity supporting its relation to emotional arousal. Attachment style modulated the effect of touch on the EEG as only secure but not insecure partner bonding was associated with theta power reductions. Because theta power was sensitive to the experimental perturbations, mapped onto peripheral physiological arousal and reflected partner attachment style we suggest that frontal theta power might serve as an EEG derived bio-marker for social touch in emotionally significant dyads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakub Kraus
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.,Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.,HUME lab - Experimental Humanities Laboratory, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Robert Roman
- Centre for Neuroscience, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Lenka Lacinová
- Institute for Research on Children, Youth, and Family, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Lamoš
- Centre for Neuroscience, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Milan Brázdil
- Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Mats Fredrikson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
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Zsido AN, Arato N, Inhof O, Janszky J, Darnai G. Short versions of two specific phobia measures: The snake and the spider questionnaires. J Anxiety Disord 2018; 54:11-16. [PMID: 29306023 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2017] [Revised: 10/27/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Zoophobias are the most prevalent form of specific phobia worldwide. Two of the most widely used measures, the Snake Questionnaire (SNAQ) and Spider Questionnaire (SPQ) are good indicators of specific fears, but researchers have recognised that shorter, yet nevertheless reliable measures are needed. Hence the aims of this research were to develop short forms of the SNAQ and SPQ using item response theory and to use receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses to determine cut-offs for use in future research. Twelve-item versions of both scales (SNAQ-12 and SPQ-12) demonstrated excellent discrimination along the latent continuum in a sample of 1354 people. The SNAQ-12 and SPQ-12 showed excellent reliability and were highly correlated with the corresponding full-length scale. The scales discriminated between participants who reported snake (3.25%) or spider (8.05%) phobia and those who did not. Further analyses revealed that non-phobic women report higher fear of both snakes and spiders than do men, but this difference was not present in phobics. These findings suggest that the SNAQ-12 and SPQ-12 have considerable strengths, including shorter assessment and scoring times, whilst retaining high reliability and potential utility as a clinical screening tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andras N Zsido
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
| | - Nikolett Arato
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
| | - Orsolya Inhof
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
| | - Jozsef Janszky
- Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Medical School, Pécs, Hungary; MTA-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, Pécs, Hungary
| | - Gergely Darnai
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary; Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, Medical School, Pécs, Hungary; MTA-PTE Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, Pécs, Hungary
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The spider and the snake - A psychometric study of two phobias and insights from the Hungarian validation. Psychiatry Res 2017; 257:61-66. [PMID: 28734237 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2017] [Revised: 06/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Specific phobias-particularly zoophobias-are prevalent worldwide and can have fairly dramatic health consequences. Self-report measurements play a crucial role in phobia research studies; thus, it is important to have a reliable tool in different languages. The present investigation examined the psychometric properties of the Hungarian version of two commonly used measures of fear: the Spider Phobia Questionnaire (i.e. SPQ) and the Snake Questionnaire (i.e. SNAQ). The SPQ and SNAQ scores both demonstrated excellent reliability, including a test-retest over a 4-week period. Supportive evidence for the validity of the SPQ and SNAQ scores was found using questions assessing fainting and avoidance history, regarding snakes and spiders, based on DSM-V criteria. Both questionnaires could discriminate between participants who reported such an event and those who did not. Further analyses also revealed a sex difference, with women scoring higher than men on both scales. Moreover, 9.5% and 4.24% of the respondents reached the cut-off point, set by previous studies, for spider and snake phobias, respectively. These findings suggest that the SPQ and SNAQ have excellent psychometric properties, making them suitable for use in further cross-cultural research and epidemiological studies.
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Peñate W, Fumero A, Viña C, Herrero M, Marrero R, Rivero F. A meta-analytic review of neuroimaging studies of specific phobia to small animals. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpsy.2016.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Fear conditioning seems to account for the acquisition of post-traumatic stress disorder, whereas conscious recall of events in aftermath of trauma reflects episodic memory. Studies show that both fear conditioning and episodic memory are heritable, but no study has evaluated whether they reflect common or separate genetic factors. To this end, we studied episodic memory and fear conditioning in 173 healthy twin pairs using visual stimuli predicting unconditioned electric shocks. METHODS Fear conditioning acquisition and extinction was determined using conditioned visual stimuli predicting unconditioned mild electric shocks, whereas electrodermal activity served as the fear learning index. Episodic memory was evaluated using cued recall of pictorial stimuli unrelated to conditioning. We used multivariate structural equation modeling to jointly analyze memory performance and acquisition as well as extinction of fear conditioning. RESULTS Best-fit twin models estimated moderate genetic loadings for conditioning and memory measures, with no genetic covariation between them. CONCLUSION Individual differences in fear conditioning and episodic memory reflect distinct genetically influenced processes, suggesting that the genetic risk for learning-induced anxiety disorders includes at least two memory-related genetic factors. These findings are consistent with the facts that the two separate learning forms are distant in their evolutionary development, involve different brain mechanisms, and support that genetically independent memory systems are pivotal in the development and maintenance of syndromes related to fear learning.
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Hilbert K, Evens R, Maslowski NI, Wittchen HU, Lueken U. Neurostructural correlates of two subtypes of specific phobia: a voxel-based morphometry study. Psychiatry Res 2015; 231:168-75. [PMID: 25561374 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2014] [Revised: 11/13/2014] [Accepted: 12/04/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The animal and blood-injection-injury (BII) subtypes of specific phobia are both characterized by subjective fear but distinct autonomic reactions to threat. Previous functional neuroimaging studies have related these characteristic responses to shared and non-shared neural underpinnings. However, no comparative structural data are available. This study aims to fill this gap by comparing the two subtypes and also comparing them with a non-phobic control group. Gray and white matter data of 33 snake phobia subjects (SP), 26 dental phobia subjects (DP), and 37 healthy control (HC) subjects were analyzed with voxel-based morphometry. Especially DP differed from HC and SP by showing significantly increased grey matter volumes in widespread areas including the right subgenual anterior cingulate gyrus, left insula, left orbitofrontal and left prefrontal (PFC) cortices. In addition, white matter volume was significantly increased in the left PFC in DP compared with SP. These results are in line with functional changes observed in dental phobia and point toward those brain circuits associated with emotional processing and regulation. Future studies should aim to further delineate functional and structural connectivity alterations in specific phobia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Hilbert
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Behavioral Epidemiology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Ricarda Evens
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Nina Isabel Maslowski
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Hans-Ulrich Wittchen
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Ulrike Lueken
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Michalowski JM, Weymar M, Hamm AO. Remembering the object you fear: brain potentials during recognition of spiders in spider-fearful individuals. PLoS One 2014; 9:e109537. [PMID: 25296032 PMCID: PMC4190313 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 09/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the present study we investigated long-term memory for unpleasant, neutral and spider pictures in 15 spider-fearful and 15 non-fearful control individuals using behavioral and electrophysiological measures. During the initial (incidental) encoding, pictures were passively viewed in three separate blocks and were subsequently rated for valence and arousal. A recognition memory task was performed one week later in which old and new unpleasant, neutral and spider pictures were presented. Replicating previous results, we found enhanced memory performance and higher confidence ratings for unpleasant when compared to neutral materials in both animal fearful individuals and controls. When compared to controls high animal fearful individuals also showed a tendency towards better memory accuracy and significantly higher confidence during recognition of spider pictures, suggesting that memory of objects prompting specific fear is also facilitated in fearful individuals. In line, spider-fearful but not control participants responded with larger ERP positivity for correctly recognized old when compared to correctly rejected new spider pictures, thus showing the same effects in the neural signature of emotional memory for feared objects that were already discovered for other emotional materials. The increased fear memory for phobic materials observed in the present study in spider-fearful individuals might result in an enhanced fear response and reinforce negative beliefs aggravating anxiety symptomatology and hindering recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O. Hamm
- Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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Scharmüller W, Leutgeb V, Schöngaßner F, Hermann A, Stark R, Schienle A. Altered functional connectivity of basal ganglia circuitry in dental phobia. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2013; 9:1584-8. [PMID: 24084590 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nst150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent symptom provocation studies that compared patients suffering from dental phobia with healthy controls identified hyperactivation of basal ganglia structures, but none have assessed striatal functional connectivity. We reanalyzed data from a previous functional magnetic resonance imaging study on dental phobia. Patients (20 men, 25 women) and healthy controls (18 men, 23 women) had been exposed to pictures showing dental treatment, and neutral contents. We conducted connectivity analyses via psychophysiological interactions (PPIs). Relative to non-phobic controls, the patients showed decreased connectivity between prefrontal and basal ganglia regions. Moreover, the clinical group was characterized by increased internal basal ganglia connectivity, which was more pronounced in female compared with male patients. This study provides first evidence for an altered information flow within a fronto-striatal network in dentophobic individuals during visual symptom provocation, which can be considered a neuromarker of this disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wilfried Scharmüller
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str.10, 35394 Giessen, Germany
| | - Verena Leutgeb
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str.10, 35394 Giessen, Germany
| | - Florian Schöngaßner
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str.10, 35394 Giessen, Germany
| | - Andrea Hermann
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str.10, 35394 Giessen, Germany
| | - Rudolf Stark
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str.10, 35394 Giessen, Germany
| | - Anne Schienle
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str.10, 35394 Giessen, Germany Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str.10, 35394 Giessen, Germany
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Milad MR, Rauch SL. Obsessive-compulsive disorder: beyond segregated cortico-striatal pathways. Trends Cogn Sci 2011; 16:43-51. [PMID: 22138231 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2011.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 539] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2011] [Revised: 11/08/2011] [Accepted: 11/08/2011] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects approximately 2-3% of the population and is characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions), typically performed in response to obsessions or related anxiety. In the past few decades, the prevailing models of OCD pathophysiology have focused on cortico-striatal circuitry. More recent neuroimaging evidence, however, points to critical involvement of the lateral and medial orbitofrontal cortices, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and amygdalo-cortical circuitry, in addition to cortico-striatal circuitry, in the pathophysiology of the disorder. In this review, we elaborate proposed features of OCD pathophysiology beyond the classic parallel cortico-striatal pathways and argue that this evidence suggests that fear extinction, in addition to behavioral inhibition, is impaired in OCD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammed R Milad
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
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