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Neural correlates of individual differences in anxiety sensitivity: an fMRI study using semantic priming.

ABSTRACT: Individuals with high anxiety sensitivity (AS) have an increased risk of developing anxiety disorders and are more biased in how they process fear-related stimuli. This study investigates the neural correlates of fear-related words and word associations in high- and low-AS individuals. We used a semantic priming paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging in which three types of target words (fear symptoms, e.g. 'dizziness'; neutral, e.g. 'drink'; and pseudowords, e.g. 'salkom') were preceded by two types of prime words (fear-triggers, e.g. 'elevator'; and neutral, e.g. 'bottle'). Subjects with high AS rated fear-symptom words (vs neutral words) as more unpleasant than low-AS individuals; they also related these words more strongly to fear-triggers and showed prolonged reaction times. During the processing of fear-symptom words, greater activation in the left anterior insula was observed in high-AS subjects than in low-AS subjects. Lower activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus, angular gyrus, fusiform gyrus and bilateral amygdalae was found in high-AS subjects when fear-symptom words were preceded by fear-trigger words. The findings suggest that cognitive biases and the anterior insula play a crucial role in high-AS individuals. Furthermore, semantic processes may contribute to high AS and the risk of developing anxiety disorders.

SUBMITTER: Yang Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4967792 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Neural correlates of individual differences in anxiety sensitivity: an fMRI study using semantic priming.

Yang Yunbo Y Lueken Ulrike U Wittmann André A Holtz Katharina K Kleint Nina Isabel NI Herrmann Martin J MJ Sass Katharina K Jansen Andreas A Konrad Carsten C Ströhle Andreas A Pfleiderer Bettina B Lotze Martin M Hamm Alfons A Deckert Jürgen J Arolt Volker V Wittchen Hans-Ulrich HU Kircher Tilo T Straube Benjamin B

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience 20160312 8

Individuals with high anxiety sensitivity (AS) have an increased risk of developing anxiety disorders and are more biased in how they process fear-related stimuli. This study investigates the neural correlates of fear-related words and word associations in high- and low-AS individuals. We used a semantic priming paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging in which three types of target words (fear symptoms, e.g. 'dizziness'; neutral, e.g. 'drink'; and pseudowords, e.g. 'salkom') were p ...[more]

PMID: 26969863

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Project description:Group problem solving is a prototypical complex collective intellectual activity. Psychological research provides compelling evidence that problem solving in groups is both qualitatively and quantitatively different from doing so alone. However, the question of whether individual and collective problem solving involve the same neural substrate has not yet been addressed, mainly due to methodological limitations. In the current study, functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed to compare brain activation when participants solved Raven-like matrix problems in a small group and individually. In the group condition, the participant in the scanner was able to discuss the problem with other team members using a special communication device. In the individual condition, the participant was required to think aloud while solving the problem in the silent presence of the other team members. Greater activation was found in several brain regions during group problem solving, including the medial prefrontal cortex; lateral parietal, cingulate, precuneus and retrosplenial cortices; frontal and temporal poles. These areas have been identified as potential components of the so-called "social brain" on the basis of research using offline judgments of material related to socializing. Therefore, this study demonstrated the actual involvement of these regions in real-time social interactions, such as group problem solving. However, further connectivity analysis revealed that the social brain components are co-activated, but do not increase their coupling during cooperation as would be suggested for a holistic network. We suggest that the social mode of the brain may be described instead as a re-configuration of connectivity between basic networks, and we found decreased connectivity between the language and salience networks in the group compared to the individual condition. A control experiment showed that the findings from the main experiment cannot be entirely accounted for by discourse comprehension. Thus, the study demonstrates affordances provided by the presented new technique for neuroimaging the "group mind," implementing the single-brain version of the second-person neuroscience approach.

Dataset Information

Neural correlates of individual differences in anxiety sensitivity: an fMRI study using semantic priming.

Publications

Neural correlates of individual differences in anxiety sensitivity: an fMRI study using semantic priming.

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