Abstract
Individuals with anxiety disorders demonstrate altered cognitive performance including (1) cognitive biases towards negative
stimuli (affective biases) and (2) increased cognitive rigidity (e.g., impaired conflict adaptation) on affective Stroop tasks.
Threat of electric shock is frequently used to induce anxiety in healthy individuals, but the extent to which this manipulation
mimics the cognitive impairment seen in anxiety disorders is unclear. In this study, 31 healthy individuals completed an affective
Stroop task under safe and threat-of-shock conditions. We showed that threat (1) enhanced aversive processing and abolished
a positive affective bias but (2) had no effect on conflict adaptation. Threat of shock thus partially models the effects
of anxiety disorders on affective Stroop tasks. We suggest that the affective state of anxiety—which is common to both threat
and anxiety disorders—modulates the neural inhibition of subcortical aversive processing, whilst pathologies unique to anxiety
disorders modulate conflict adaptation.
stimuli (affective biases) and (2) increased cognitive rigidity (e.g., impaired conflict adaptation) on affective Stroop tasks.
Threat of electric shock is frequently used to induce anxiety in healthy individuals, but the extent to which this manipulation
mimics the cognitive impairment seen in anxiety disorders is unclear. In this study, 31 healthy individuals completed an affective
Stroop task under safe and threat-of-shock conditions. We showed that threat (1) enhanced aversive processing and abolished
a positive affective bias but (2) had no effect on conflict adaptation. Threat of shock thus partially models the effects
of anxiety disorders on affective Stroop tasks. We suggest that the affective state of anxiety—which is common to both threat
and anxiety disorders—modulates the neural inhibition of subcortical aversive processing, whilst pathologies unique to anxiety
disorders modulate conflict adaptation.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-11
- DOI 10.3758/s13415-011-0030-5
- Authors
- Oliver J. Robinson, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, NIMH, 15K North Drive, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Allison M. Letkiewicz, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, NIMH, 15K North Drive, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Cassie Overstreet, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, NIMH, 15K North Drive, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Monique Ernst, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, NIMH, 15K North Drive, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Christian Grillon, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, NIMH, 15K North Drive, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
- Online ISSN 1531-135X
- Print ISSN 1530-7026