Attentional bias toward negative stimuli in PTSD: an eye-tracking study

Abstract

Background Research on biased processing of aversive stimuli in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has produced inconsistent results between response time (RT) and eye-tracking studies. Recent RT-based results of dot-probe studies showed no attentional bias (AB) for threat while eye-tracking research suggested heightened sustained attention for this information. Here, we used both RT-based and eye-tracking measures to explore the dynamics of AB to negative stimuli in PTSD. Methods Twenty-three individuals diagnosed with PTSD, 23 trauma-exposed healthy controls, and 23 healthy controls performed an emotional dot-probe task with pairs of negative and neutral scenes presented for either 1 or 2 s. Analyses included eye movements during the presentation of the scenes and RT associated with target localization. Results There was no evidence for an AB toward negative stimuli in PTSD from RT measures. However, the main eye-tracking results revealed that all three groups showed longer dwell times on negative pictures than neutral pictures at 1 s and that this AB was stronger for individuals with PTSD. Moreover, although AB disappeared for the two groups of healthy controls with prolonged exposure, it persisted for individuals with PTSD. Conclusion PTSD is associated with an AB toward negative stimuli, characterized by heightened sustained attention toward negative scenes once detected. This study sheds light on the dynamics of AB to negative stimuli in PTSD and encourages us to consider optimized therapeutic interventions targeting abnormal AB patterns.

Patterns of attentional bias in antenatal depression: an eye-tracking study

“…Bias scores with first-fixation durations longer than zero were considered to be biased toward infant-related emotional stimuli, while bias scores with shorter durations than zero suggested a preference for neutral stimuli. First-fixation latency bias scores were the reverse ( Duque et al, 2014 ; Veerapa et al, 2023 ).…”

“…On the basis of previous studies, the initial orientation bias score was used as the core index of H1 in this study, and the first fixation latency bias score and the first fixation duration bias score were used as auxiliary indexes ( Soltani et al, 2020 ). The first fixation latency bias score was used as the core indicator of H2, and the initial orientation bias score and the first fixation latency bias score were used as auxiliary indicators ( Veerapa et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Finally, one-sample t -tests were performed on the three bias scores to explore the attention bias patterns in the two groups. The initial orienting bias score was compared to a 50% level, while the first-fixation latency bias score and first-fixation duration bias score were compared to a 0 level ( Duque et al, 2014 ; Veerapa et al, 2023 ).…”

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Brain Function, and Psychiatric Diagnoses in a Large Adult Clinical Cohort

“…To understand brain functional relationships with ACEs in this clinical cohort, we utilize available Single Photon Computed Tomography (SPECT) data, an imaging technology for measuring perfusion and metabolic status in the brain (15)(16)(17). We evaluate brain SPECT in the same patients at rest and during a concentration task to understand differences in the associations between increasing ACEs and adult brain function while under attentional demands versus at rest, an important distinction for psychiatric conditions such as attention de cit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (18,19), major depressive disorder (MDD) (20,21), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (22,23), among others. Next, we evaluate the risk of being diagnosed with adult psychiatric conditions as a function of increasing patient-reported ACEs and, through mediation analyses, evaluate which brain functional associations serve as mediators between ACEs and each signi cant psychiatric condition to better inform treating physicians about the potential impacts of ACEs on their adult patient's brain health.…”