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Karpov G, Lin MH, Headley DB, Baker TE. Oscillatory correlates of threat imminence during virtual navigation. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14551. [PMID: 38516942 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
The Predatory Imminence Continuum Theory proposes that defensive behaviors depend on the proximity of a threat. While the neural mechanisms underlying this proposal are well studied in animal models, it remains poorly understood in humans. To address this issue, we recorded EEG from 24 (15 female) young adults engaged in a first-person virtual reality Risk-Reward interaction task. On each trial, participants were placed in a virtual room and presented with either a threat or reward conditioned stimulus (CS) in the same room location (proximal) or different room location (distal). Behaviorally, all participants learned to avoid the threat-CS, with most using the optimal behavior to actively avoid the proximal threat-CS (88% accuracy) and passively avoid the distal threat-CS (69% accuracy). Similarly, participants learned to actively approach the distal reward-CS (82% accuracy) and to remain passive to the proximal reward-CS (72% accuracy). At an electrophysiological level, we observed a general increase in theta power (4-8 Hz) over the right posterior channel P8 across all conditions, with the proximal threat-CS evoking the largest theta response. By contrast, distal cues induced two bursts of gamma (30-60 Hz) power over midline-parietal channel Pz (200 msec post-cue) and right frontal channel Fp2 (300 msec post-cue). Interestingly, the first burst of gamma power was sensitive to the distal threat-CS and the second burst at channel Fp2 was sensitive to the distal reward-CS. Together, these findings demonstrate that oscillatory processes differentiate between the spatial proximity information during threat and reward encoding, likely optimizing the selection of the appropriate behavioral response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galit Karpov
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers State University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Mei-Heng Lin
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers State University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Drew B Headley
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers State University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Travis E Baker
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers State University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
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Botta A, Zhao M, Samogin J, Pelosin E, Bonassi G, Lagravinese G, Mantini D, Avenanti A, Avanzino L. Early modulations of neural oscillations during the processing of emotional body language. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14436. [PMID: 37681463 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
The processing of threat-related emotional body language (EBL) has been shown to engage sensorimotor cortical areas early on and induce freezing in the observers' motor system, particularly when observing fearful EBL. To provide insights into the interplay between somatosensory and motor areas during observation of EBL, here, we used high-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG) in healthy humans while they observed EBL stimuli involving fearful and neutral expressions. To capture early sensorimotor brain response, we focused on P100 fronto-central event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) in the mu-alpha (8-13 Hz) and lower beta (13-20 Hz) bands over the primary motor (M1) and somatosensory (S1) cortices. Source-level ERP and ERD/ERS analyses were conducted using eLORETA. Results revealed higher P100 amplitudes in motor and premotor channels for 'Neutral' compared with 'Fear'. Additionally, analysis of ERD/ERS showed increased beta band desynchronization in M1 for 'Neutral', and the opposite pattern in S1. Source-level estimation showed significant differences between conditions mainly observed in the beta band over sensorimotor areas. These findings provide high-temporal resolution evidence suggesting that seeing fearful EBL induces early activation of somatosensory areas, which in turn could suppress M1 activity. These findings highlight early dynamics within the observer's sensorimotor system and hint at a sensorimotor mechanism supporting freezing during the processing of EBL.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mingqi Zhao
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jessica Samogin
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Elisa Pelosin
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Gaia Bonassi
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giovanna Lagravinese
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, and Maternal Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Dante Mantini
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari", Campus Cesena, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | - Laura Avanzino
- IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), Section of Human Physiology, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
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Abalo-Rodríguez I, Santos-Mayo A, Moratti S. Pavlovian conditioning-induced hallucinations reduce MMN amplitudes for duration but not frequency deviants. Schizophr Res 2023; 256:63-71. [PMID: 37156071 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2023.04.017] [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: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an evoked potential that indexes auditory regularity violations. Since the 90's, a reduced amplitude of this brain activity in patients with schizophrenia has been consistently reported. Recently, this alteration has been related to the presence of auditory hallucinations (AHs) rather than the schizophrenia diagnostic per se. However, making this attribution is rather problematic due to the high heterogeneity of symptoms in schizophrenia. In an attempt to isolate the AHs influence on the MMN amplitude from other cofounding variables, we artificially induced AHs in a non-clinical population by Pavlovian conditioning. Before and after conditioning, volunteers (N = 31) participated in an oddball paradigm that elicited an MMN. Two different types of deviants were presented: a frequency and a duration deviant, as the MMN alteration seems to be especially present in schizophrenia with the latter type of deviant. Hence, this pre-post design allowed us to compare whether experiencing conditioning-induced AHs exert any influence on MMN amplitudes. Our results show that duration-deviant related MMN reductions significantly correlate with the number of AHs experienced. Moreover, we found a significant correlation between AHs proneness (measured with the Launay-Slade Hallucination Extended Scale) and the number of AHs experienced during the paradigm. In sum, our study shows that AHs can be conditioned and exert similar effects on MMN modulation in healthy participants as has been reported for patients with schizophrenia. Thus, conditioning paradigms offer the possibility to study the association between hallucinations and MMN reductions without the confounding variables present in schizophrenia patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inés Abalo-Rodríguez
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain; Center of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
| | - Alejandro Santos-Mayo
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain; Center of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
| | - Stephan Moratti
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain; Center of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.
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Stegmann Y, Andreatta M, Wieser MJ. The effect of inherently threatening contexts on visuocortical engagement to conditioned threat. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14208. [PMID: 36325884 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14208] [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: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Fear and anxiety are crucial for adaptive responding in life-threatening situations. Whereas fear is a phasic response to an acute threat accompanied by selective attention, anxiety is characterized by a sustained feeling of apprehension and hypervigilance during situations of potential threat. In the current literature, fear and anxiety are usually considered mutually exclusive, with partially separated neural underpinnings. However, there is accumulating evidence that challenges this distinction between fear and anxiety, and simultaneous activation of fear and anxiety networks has been reported. Therefore, the current study experimentally tested potential interactions between fear and anxiety. Fifty-two healthy participants completed a differential fear conditioning paradigm followed by a test phase in which the conditioned stimuli were presented in front of threatening or neutral contextual images. To capture defense system activation, we recorded subjective (threat, US-expectancy), physiological (skin conductance, heart rate) and visuocortical (steady-state visual evoked potentials) responses to the conditioned stimuli as a function of contextual threat. Results demonstrated successful fear conditioning in all measures. In addition, threat and US-expectancy ratings, cardiac deceleration, and visuocortical activity were enhanced for fear cues presented in threatening compared with neutral contexts. These results are in line with an additive or interactive rather than an exclusive model of fear and anxiety, indicating facilitated defensive behavior to imminent danger in situations of potential threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yannik Stegmann
- Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Marta Andreatta
- Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Matthias J Wieser
- Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Wilhelm RA, Threadgill AH, Gable PA. Motivated for movement: Beta activation over the motor cortex resulting from intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14120. [PMID: 35699509 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14120] [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: 08/14/2021] [Revised: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Past work on motivation has primarily studied dichotomous distinctions of motivation (e.g., extrinsic or intrinsic). However, focusing on the overall motivational intensity may be better at accentuating the unique differences within and between varying motivators as it pertains to the impetus to act. Specifically, motivational intensity influences neural patterns of beta band frequency (13-30 Hz) as measured by electroencephalography (EEG) that enable motor-action preparation, a neural correlate of motivated movement. The primary aim of across three experiments was to investigate neural motor-action preparation to modified flanker tasks within achievement (Experiment 1), autonomous (Experiment 2), and extrinsic vs. intrinsic (Experiment 3) motivational contexts. Experiment 1 revealed greater motor-action preparation for challenging trial cues and did not differ in behavioral attentional and performance measures across both trial types. Experiment 2 revealed no significant difference in motor-action preparation, did not differ in behavioral attentional narrowing and had worse behavioral performance in high autonomy relative to low autonomy trials. Experiment 3 revealed greater motor-action preparation for challenging trial cues, did not differ in behavioral attentional narrowing and had a faster performance for reward trials relative to high autonomy trials. These findings suggest motivators of the same category (i.e., intrinsic) may differ in motivational strength, as suggested by a neurophysiological measure of immediate motivated movement planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo A Wilhelm
- Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.,Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
| | - A Hunter Threadgill
- Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Philip A Gable
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
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