Dataset Information

Chemosensory anxiety cues moderate the experience of social exclusion - an fMRI investigation with Cyberball.

ABSTRACT: Recent evidence suggests that the experience of stress can be communicated between individuals via chemosensory cues. Little is known, however, about the impact of these cues on neurophysiological responses during a socially threatening situation. In the current investigation we implemented a widely used paradigm to study social exclusion-Cyberball-to examine whether chemosensory cues signaling anxiety modulate the neuronal effects of ostracism. In a double-blind, within-subjects design, 24 healthy, normosmic participants were presented with chemosensory cues of anxiety (or control samples) and completed the Cyberball task while in a 3T fMRI scanner. Axillary sweat collected from male students awaiting an oral examination served as the anxiety cues while the chemosensory control stimuli consisted of sweat collected from the same individuals participating in an ergometer training session. The neuroimaging data revealed that under the control chemosensory condition, exclusion from Cyberball was associated with significantly higher orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex activity, which is consistent with previous studies in the field. However, when participants were primed with the anxiety sweat, the activity in these regions was not observed. Further, under exposure to anxiety cues during ostracism the participants showed deactivations in brain regions involved in memory (hippocampus), social cognition (middle temporal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus) and processing of salience (inferior frontal gyrus). These results suggest that successful communication of anxiety via the chemosensory domain may moderate the experience of social exclusion. It is possible that the anxiety signals make it easier for the individuals to detach from the group, pointing to the communicative role of chemosensory anxiety cues in enhancing adjustment mechanisms in light of a distressing situation.

SUBMITTER: Wudarczyk OA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4599064 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Chemosensory anxiety cues moderate the experience of social exclusion - an fMRI investigation with Cyberball.

Wudarczyk Olga A OA Kohn Nils N Bergs Rene R Gur Raquel E RE Turetsky Bruce B Schneider Frank F Habel Ute U

Frontiers in psychology 20151009

Recent evidence suggests that the experience of stress can be communicated between individuals via chemosensory cues. Little is known, however, about the impact of these cues on neurophysiological responses during a socially threatening situation. In the current investigation we implemented a widely used paradigm to study social exclusion-Cyberball-to examine whether chemosensory cues signaling anxiety modulate the neuronal effects of ostracism. In a double-blind, within-subjects design, 24 heal ...[more]

PMID: 26500572

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Obesity is a well-known risk factor for elevated inflammation and insulin resistance. Social anxiety may moderate this relationship, such that individuals who areboth obese and socially anxious may have an even greater risk for elevated inflammation and insulin resistance than those who are obese but not socially anxious; the combination of obesity and social anxiety is markedly stressful. METHODS:The current paper reports secondary analyses from the Biomarker wave of the Mid-Life in the United States (MIDUS) study (N?=?1255), a publicly available dataset of American adults. Participants completed a standard scale measuring social anxiety symptoms and had their waist circumference, height, and weight measured by a staff member. They also provided a fasting blood sample that was assayed for CRP, IL-6, HOMA-IR, glucose, and insulin. RESULTS:The interaction between obesity and social anxiety symptoms was significant. People with a larger waist circumference and more social anxiety symptoms had greater inflammation and insulin resistance relative to those with a larger waist circumference but less social anxiety symptoms. These results were similar for both measures of inflammation and were robust across both the unadjusted and adjusted models. The results were also largely replicated in models using body mass index (BMI) rather than waist circumference as the measure of obesity. CONCLUSIONS:The current findings build on existing work about the health risks of obesity, extending it in an important new direction by demonstrating that these health risks are stronger among those who are also socially anxious. In fact, the magnitude of the relationship between obesity and metabolic function is 1.5 times stronger among those with more social anxiety symptoms. Thus, knowing whether a person is obese only provides one piece of the puzzle; knowing information about both obesity and social anxiety symptoms is critical for understanding who is most at risk for obesity-related health problems. Thus, a critical next step is for intervention scientists to examine health programs tailored to people who are both obese and socially anxious.

Dataset Information

Chemosensory anxiety cues moderate the experience of social exclusion - an fMRI investigation with Cyberball.

Publications

Chemosensory anxiety cues moderate the experience of social exclusion - an fMRI investigation with Cyberball.

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