Comorbid anxiety and depression: Opposing effects on the electrocortical processing of negative imagery in a focal fear sample.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Anxiety and depression are highly comorbid and share clinical characteristics, such as high levels of negative emotion. Attention toward negative stimuli in anxiety and depression has been studied primarily using negative pictures. Yet, negative mental imagery-that is, mental representations of imagined negative events or stimuli-might more closely mirror patient experience.

Methods

The current study presents the first examination of neural response to negative imagery in 57 adults (39 female) who all shared a common "focal fear" diagnosis (i.e., specific phobia or performance-only social anxiety disorder), but varied in levels of comorbid anxiety and depression. After listening to standardized descriptions of negative and neutral scenes, participants imagined the

SUBMITTER: Bauer EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8640943 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature