Threat imminence reveals links among unfolding of anticipatory physiological response, cortical-subcortical intrinsic functional connectivity, and anxiety.

ABSTRACT: Excessive expression of fear responses in anticipation of threat occurs in anxiety, but understanding of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms is limited. Animal research indicates that threat-anticipatory defensive responses are dynamically organized by threat imminence and rely on conserved circuitry. Insight from basic neuroscience research in animals on threat imminence could guide mechanistic research in humans mapping abnormal function in this circuitry to aberrant defensive responses in pathological anxiety. 50 pediatric anxiety patients and healthy-comparisons (33 females) completed an instructed threat-anticipation task whereby cues signaled delivery of painful (threat) or non-painful (safety) thermal stimulation. Temporal changes in skin-conductance indexed anxiety effects on

SUBMITTER: Abend R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8749274 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature