Exaggerated amygdala response to masked facial stimuli in posttraumatic stress disorder: a functional MRI study

Rauch, Scott L.; Whalen, Paul J.; Shin, Lisa M.; McInerney, Sean C.; Macklin, Michael L.; Lasko, Natasha B.; Orr, Scott P.; Pitman, Roger K.

doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(00)00828-3

Cited by 994 publications

(706 citation statements)

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“…One such putative mechanism, overviewed in the introduction, is the amygdala response to visual threat. Indeed a robust finding in the neuroimaging literature is that individual, group, and clinical differences in anxiety correlate positively with response to threatening relative to neutral stimuli in the amygdala (e.g., Birbaumer et al, 1998;Canli, Zhao, Desmond, Kang, Gross, & Gabrieli, 2001;Fischer, Tillfors, Furmark, & Fredrikson, 2001;Rauch et al, 2000;Stein, Goldin, Sareen, Zorrilla, & Brown, 2002;Thomas et al, 2001). These results suggest that the predisposition toward experiencing anxiety, and to selectively attend toward threatening visual stimuli, may be mediated at the neurobiological level via a common information-processing mechanism.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, the amygdala has been shown in some neuroimaging studies to respond to very briefly-presented threat-related facial expressions (e.g., Morris, Öhman, & Dolan, 1999;Whalen et al, 1998;Phillips et al, 2004), even if the question of whether this structure responds to truly unconscious presentations of threatening stimuli remains presently undecided (e.g., Phillips et al, 2004). Studies have also shown that very rapid presentations of fearful facial expressions activate the amygdala more strongly in individuals high rather than low in anxiety (e.g., in subjects with posttraumatic stress disorder; Rauch et al, 2000).…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Selective attention to threat versus reward: Meta-analysis and neural-network modeling of the dot-probe task

Frewen

Dozois

Joanisse

et al. 2008

Clinical Psychology Review

174

156

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Two decades of research conducted to date has examined selective visual attention to threat and reward stimuli as a function of individual differences in anxiety using the dot-probe task. The present study tests a connectionist neural-network model of meta-analytic and key individual study results derived from this literature. Attentional bias for threatening and reward-related stimuli is accounted for by connectionist model implementation of the following clinical psychology and affective neuroscience principles: 1) affective learning and temperament, 2) state and trait anxiety, 3) intensity appraisal, 4) affective chronometry, 5) attentional control, and 6) selective attention training. Theoretical implications for the study of mood and anxiety disorders are discussed.Key Words: Dot-Probe Task, Selective Attention, Threat, Reward, Anxiety, Depression, Connectionism, Neural Network, Amygdala. A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTSelective Attention for Reward & Threat 3 Selective Attention to Threat versus Reward: Meta-analysis and Neural-Network Modeling of the Dot-Probe TaskTheoretical constructs and research methodologies derived from cognitive psychology figure prominently in current emotion research, including investigations into the nature and function of anxiety. For example, cognitive researchers have been studying how individuals visually attend to threatening stimuli, and how between-subject variability in the functioning of attentional systems may correlate with individual differences in anxiety-related traits and disorders (e.g., Williams, Watts, MacLeod, & Matthews, 1997).Evolutionary models of emotion and attention hypothesize that nature may have programmed the visual-attention system to attend selectively to stimuli of biological significance, including both to cues of possible impending threat (e.g., predators), on the one hand, and to cues of potential reinforcement-reward value (e.g., food, mates), on the other (e.g., LeDoux, 1996;Panksepp, 1998;Rolls, 1999). Attentional mechanisms procuring the rapid detection of sources of potential environmental threat are therefore presumed to afford an obvious survival-facilitating mechanism (A. Mathews & Mackintosh, 1998;A. Mathews, Mackintosh, & Fulcher, 1997;. However, an equally integral attentional function to the biological fitness of organisms is to orient toward stimuli of potential reward-value in their environments (Panksepp, 1998;Rolls, 1999).It may be that reward-and threat-detection are performed by distinct attentional systems 1 . Specifically, threat detection attentional mechanisms may represent secondary interrupt programs that continuously perform a background analysis of stimuli regarding their likelihood of representing a source of danger, attaining foreground and conscious significance only to the extent that this analysis results in the detection of relatively significant sources of danger (e.g., LeDoux, 1996). Otherwise, the default and primary orientation of attention may be toward reward-relevant stimuli...

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Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective attention to threat versus reward: Meta-analysis and neural-network modeling of the dot-probe task

Frewen

Dozois

Joanisse

et al. 2008

Clinical Psychology Review

174

156

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the viewing of faces expressing the emotion of fear consistently engages the amygdala in healthy adults, whereas the viewing of angry faces engages the ventral PFC (Haxby et al, 2002). Moreover, differences between adults with and without PTSD have been demonstrated using such paradigms (Rauch et al, 2000). Such findings generated initial interest in extending this line of inquiry to children.…”

Section: Developmental Psychobiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Trauma, Proximity, and Developmental Psychopathology: The Effects of War and Terrorism on Children

Pine

Costello

Masten

2005

Neuropsychopharmacol

132

118

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This report summarizes recent literature relevant to the effects of terrorism on children's mental health. The paper addresses three aspects of this topic. In the first section of the paper, data are reviewed concerning the relationships among stress, trauma, and developmental psychopathology. A particular emphasis is placed on associations with indirect forms of trauma, given that terrorism involves high levels of indirect trauma. Second, the paper delineates a set of key principles to be considered when considering ways in which the effects of terrorism on children's mental health can be minimized. Third, data are reviewed from studies in developmental psychobiology. These data are designed to illustrate the mechanisms through which children exhibit unique effects in the wake of traumatic circumstances.

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“…Given the atypical emotional responses of individuals with anxious or depressive disorders, researchers have hypothesized that anomalies in neural structures involved in perceiving, evaluating, and responding to emotional stimuli may characterize these patient groups. Consistent with this hypothesis, accumulating evidence associates aberrant amygdala function, typically enhanced activity, with anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder (MDD) (2)(3)(4)(5)(6).…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

“…In adults, amplified amygdala responses to salient emotional cues have been demonstrated in patients with social anxiety disorder (3,7), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (2,4), and specific phobias (5), as well as MDD (8)(9)(10). A smaller body of research in adolescents with mood and anxiety disorders has generated similar evidence of atypical amygdala responsiveness (6,(11)(12)(13), mostly hyperactivity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

fMRI predictors of treatment outcome in pediatric anxiety disorders

et al. 2006

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Exaggerated amygdala response to masked facial stimuli in posttraumatic stress disorder: a functional MRI study

Cited by 994 publications

References 30 publications

Selective attention to threat versus reward: Meta-analysis and neural-network modeling of the dot-probe task

Selective attention to threat versus reward: Meta-analysis and neural-network modeling of the dot-probe task

Trauma, Proximity, and Developmental Psychopathology: The Effects of War and Terrorism on Children

fMRI predictors of treatment outcome in pediatric anxiety disorders

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