Fear lies in the eyes of the beholder—Robust evidence for reduced gaze dispersion upon avoidable threat

Merscher, Alma‐Sophia; Gamer, Matthias

doi:10.1111/psyp.14421

Cited by 5 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(133 reference statements)

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“…Beyond Pavlovian biases in responses and RTs, we also found cue valence to affect gaze position: During the cue presentation, participants’ gaze showed less dispersion from the center of the screen for Avoid cues compared to Win cues in a time range around 200–280 ms after cue onset, with differences becoming stronger with learning. It is notable that, compared to previous studies reporting freezing of gaze (Merscher & Gamer, 2024; Merscher et al, 2022; Rösler & Gamer, 2019), the reduction of gaze dispersion observed in this study was temporally and spatially very constrained. This difference likely arises from differences in the experimental set-up.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 90%

“…Beyond Pavlovian biases in responses and RTs, we also found cue valence to affect gaze position: During the cue presentation, participants’ gaze showed less dispersion from the center of the screen for Avoid cues compared to Win cues in a time range around 200–280 ms after cue onset, with differences becoming stronger with learning. This finding is reminiscent of previous findings of “freezing of gaze” induced by a threat of shock manipulation (Merscher & Gamer, 2024; Merscher et al, 2022; Rösler & Gamer, 2019). Note however that our paradigms extends these findings: Previous studies encouraged participants to visually explore photos of natural scenes while they prepared for a button press in order to prevent an electric shock.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Freezing in humans is typically measured via reductions in heart rate (Hashemi et al, 2019; Klaassen et al, 2021) and bodily mobility (Ly et al, 2014) tracked with a stabilometric force-platform that records spontaneous fluctuations in body sway. Recently, it has been suggested that freezing might also affect gaze, with a stronger center bias and less visual exploration while participants prepare a response to avoid an electric shock (Merscher & Gamer, 2024; Merscher, Tovote, Pauli, & Gamer, 2022; Rösler & Gamer, 2019). Here, we tested whether a similar freezing of gaze pattern occurred during the presentation of Avoid compared to Win cues in the context of the Motivational Go/NoGo Task, testing for a difference in the absolute distance from the center of the screen (“gaze dispersion”) between trials with Win and Avoid cues.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pupil dilation reflects effortful action invigoration in overcoming aversive Pavlovian biases

Algermissen,

den Ouden

2023

Preprint

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Abstract“Pavlovian” or “motivational” biases describe the phenomenon that the valence of prospective outcomes modulates action invigoration: Reward prospect invigorates action, while punishment prospect suppresses it. The adaptive role of these biases in action selection is still unclear. One idea is that these biases constitute a fast-and-frugal decision strategy in situations characterized by novelty, surprise, and threat, e.g., in presence of a predator, which demand a quick response. In this pre-registered study (N= 35), we tested whether such a threatening situation—induced via subliminally presented angry vs. neutral faces—lead to increased reliance on Pavlovian biases. Also, we measured trial-by-trial arousal by tracking pupil diameter while participants performed an orthogonalized Motivational Go/NoGo Task. Pavlovian biases were present in responses, reaction times, and even gaze, with lower gaze dispersion under aversive cues, indicative of “freezing of gaze”. The subliminally presented faces did not affect responses, nor reaction times, nor pupil diameter, questioning the effectiveness of this manipulation. However, pupil dilations encoded the task demands, with stronger dilations for Go responses particularly for aversive cues, potentially reflecting the process of learning to recruit effort to overcome aversive inhibition. Taken together, these results point at pupil diameter reflecting effortful action invigoration to overcome freezing induced by aversive cues—a facet of cognitive control unique to the employed task. We discuss our results in the context of noradrenaline and effort expenditure, but also in light of the “value of work” theory of striatal dopamine and the role of basal ganglia pathways in invigorating and suppressing movements.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 90%

“…Beyond Pavlovian biases in responses and RTs, we also found cue valence to affect gaze position: During the cue presentation, participants’ gaze showed less dispersion from the center of the screen for Avoid cues compared to Win cues in a time range around 200–280 ms after cue onset, with differences becoming stronger with learning. This finding is reminiscent of previous findings of “freezing of gaze” induced by a threat of shock manipulation (Merscher & Gamer, 2024; Merscher et al, 2022; Rösler & Gamer, 2019). Note however that our paradigms extends these findings: Previous studies encouraged participants to visually explore photos of natural scenes while they prepared for a button press in order to prevent an electric shock.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pupil dilation reflects effortful action invigoration in overcoming aversive Pavlovian biases

Algermissen,

den Ouden

2023

Preprint

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“…This rather restricted laboratory setting is also reflected in the currently used stimulus material that was defined by a homogeneous distribution of pictorial features to prevent other notorious gaze dynamics to interfere (Merscher et al, 2022;Rösler & Gamer, 2019). A recent study indeed followed up on this limitation and showed that reductions of gaze dispersion robustly persisted even when more complex scenes were explored (i.e., social and threatening scenes; Merscher & Gamer, 2023). However, an important question for future studies whether and how the observed gaze effects would manifest in more dynamic settings and 3-dimensional environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can I see it in the eyes? An investigation of freezing‐like motion patterns in response to avoidable threat

Merscher,

Gamer

2024

Psychophysiology

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Freezing is one of the most extensively studied defensive behaviors in rodents. Both reduced body and gaze movements during anticipation of threat also occur in humans and have been discussed as translational indicators of freezing but their relationship remains unclear. We thus set out to elucidate body and eye movements and concomitant autonomic dynamics in anticipation of avoidable threat. Specifically, 50 participants viewed naturalistic pictures that were preceded by a colored fixation cross, signaling them whether to expect an inevitable (shock), no (safety), or a potential shock (flight) that could be avoided by a quick button press. Body sway, eye movements, the heart rate and skin conductance were recorded. We replicated previously described reductions in body sway, gaze dispersion, and the heart rate, and a skin conductance increase in flight trials. Stronger reductions in gaze but not in body sway predicted faster motor reactions on a trial‐wise basis, highlighting their functional role in action preparation. We failed to find a trait‐like relationship between body and gaze movements across participants, but their temporal profiles were positively related within individuals, suggesting that both metrics partly reflect the same construct. However, future research is desirable to assess these response patterns in naturalistic environments. A more ethological examination of different movement dynamics upon threat would not only warrant better comparability between rodent and human research but also help determine whether and how eye‐tracking could be implemented as a proxy for fear‐related movements in restricted brain imaging environments.

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“…Given that organisms can also actively cope with threats, passive confrontations however might not be sufficient to fully characterize the repertoire of defensive responses. Accordingly, several studies have demonstrated significant differences in autonomic responses to inevitable compared to avoidable threats (Merscher & Gamer, 2023;Merscher, Tovote, Pauli, & Gamer, 2022;Rösler & Gamer, 2019). In addition, these latter studies have identified a centralization of gaze during the anticipation of avoidable threats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrocortical responses in anticipation of avoidable and inevitable threats: a multisite study

Stegmann,

Teigeler,

Mirifar

et al. 2024

Preprint

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When faced with danger, human beings respond with a repertoire of defensive behaviors, including freezing and active avoidance. Previous research has revealed a pattern of physiological responses, characterized by heart rate bradycardia, reduced visual exploration, and heightened sympathetic arousal in reaction to avoidable threats, suggesting a state of attentive immobility in humans. However, the electrocortical underpinnings of these behaviors remain largely unexplored. To investigate the visuocortical components of attentive immobility, we recorded occipital alpha activity, along with eye-movements and autonomic responses, while participants awaited either an avoidable, inevitable, or no threat. To test the robustness and generalizability of our findings, we collected data from a total of 101 participants at two laboratories. Across sites, we observed an enhanced suppression of occipital alpha activity during avoidable threats, in contrast to inevitable or no threat trials, particularly towards the end of the trial that prompted avoidance responses. This response pattern coincided with heart rate bradycardia, centralization of gaze and increased sympathetic arousal. Furthermore, our findings expand on previous research by revealing that the amount of alpha suppression, along with centralization of gaze, and heart rate changes, predict the speed of motor response times. Collectively, these findings indicate that when individuals encounter avoidable threats, they enter a state of attentive immobility, which enhances perceptual processing and facilitates action preparation. This state appears to reflect freezing-like behavior in humans.

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Fear lies in the eyes of the beholder—Robust evidence for reduced gaze dispersion upon avoidable threat

Cited by 5 publications

References 89 publications

Pupil dilation reflects effortful action invigoration in overcoming aversive Pavlovian biases

Pupil dilation reflects effortful action invigoration in overcoming aversive Pavlovian biases

Can I see it in the eyes? An investigation of freezing‐like motion patterns in response to avoidable threat

Electrocortical responses in anticipation of avoidable and inevitable threats: a multisite study

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