Is there less to social anxiety than meets the eye? Behavioral and neural responses to three socio-emotional tasks.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is widely thought to be characterized by heightened behavioral and limbic reactivity to socio-emotional stimuli. However, although behavioral findings are clear, neural findings are surprisingly mixed.

Methods

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined behavioral and brain responses in a priori emotion generative regions of interest (amygdala and insula) in 67 patients with generalized SAD and in 28 healthy controls (HC) during three distinct socio-emotional tasks. We administered these socio-emotional tasks during one fMRI scanning session: 1) looming harsh faces (Faces); 2) videotaped actors delivering social criticism (Criticism); and 3) written negative self-beliefs (Beliefs).

Results

In each task, SAD

SUBMITTER: Ziv M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3608942 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature