Uncertainty Potentiates Neural and Cardiac Responses to Visual Stimuli in Anxiety Disorders.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Intolerance of uncertainty and worry about future events are cardinal features of anxiety. However, the neurobiological and physiological mechanisms underlying these characteristics of anxiety remain to be fully elucidated.

Methods

Individuals with diagnosed anxiety disorders (n = 29, 22 female) and age-matched comparison subjects (n = 28, 17 female) completed a task in which pictures (aversive or neutral content) were preceded by cues indicating certainty or uncertainty about the emotional valence of the subsequent pictures. We assessed functional magnetic resonance imaging and heart rate activity with respect to the 1) cue period, 2) emotional valence of the pictures, and 3) modulatory effect of uncertainty on responses to subsequent pictures.

Results

Ind

SUBMITTER: Hiser J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8273071 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature