Frontal Cortex Stimulation Reduces Vigilance to Threat: Implications for the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety

Ironside, Maria; O’Shea, Jacinta; Cowen, Philip J.; Harmer, Catherine J.

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.06.012

Cited by 115 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Importantly, similar stimulation had no effect on participants' mood. A single session of tDCS over the DLPFC also reduced attentional vigilance to fearful faces [71]. Similar results have been found in depressed populations: depressed patients were slower to name the colours of negative words than positive words in an emotional Stroop task; however, a single session of tDCS abolished this effect, reducing response times to negative words [72].…”

Section: Converging Evidence For the Neurocognitive Modelsupporting

confidence: 74%

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression

Warren

Pringle

Harmer

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

One contribution of 15 to a theme issue 'Controlling brain activity to alter perception, behaviour and society'. The way in which emotion is represented and processed in the human brain is an expanding area of research and has key implications for how we understand and potentially treat affective disorders such as depression. Characterizing the effects of pharmacological manipulations of key neurotransmitter systems can also help reveal the neurochemical underpinnings of emotional processing and how common antidepressant drugs may work in the treatment of depression and anxiety. This approach has revealed that depression is associated with both neural and behavioural biases towards negative over positive stimuli. Evidence from pharmacological challenge studies suggests that antidepressant treatment acts to normalize these biases early on in treatment, resulting in patients experiencing the world in a more positive way, improving their mood over time. This model is supported by evidence from both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. The unique perspective on antidepressant treatment offered by this approach provides some insights into individual response to treatment, as well as novel approaches to drug development.

show abstract

Section: Converging Evidence For the Neurocognitive Modelsupporting

confidence: 74%

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression

Warren

Pringle

Harmer

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There are several important differences to note between our study and the studies cited above [19,20,45,46]. First, prior studies aimed to stimulate the dlPFC, whereas we aimed to stimulate the vmPFC because of its role in extinction learning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Further support for the ability of tDCS to influence threat processing comes from two recent studies. Ironside et al [45] demonstrated that 20 minutes of 2 mA anodal left dlPFC - cathodal right dlPFC tDCS reduced threat sensitivity as measured with a short duration (100 ms) dot-probe task to fearful faces. A second study by Clarke et al [46] reported that 1 mA anodal left dlPFC tDCS for about 17 minutes enhanced attentional threat bias consistent with the direction of attention (toward or away).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Augment Extinction of Conditioned Fear?

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Exposure-based therapy parallels extinction learning of conditioned fear. Prior research points to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex as a potential site for the consolidation of extinction learning and subsequent retention of extinction memory. Objective/hypothesis The present study aimed to evaluate whether the application of non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during extinction learning enhances late extinction and early recall in human participants. Methods Forty-four healthy volunteers completed a 2-day Pavlovian fear conditioning, extinction, and recall paradigm while skin conductance activity was continuously measured. Twenty-six participants received 2 mA anodal tDCS over EEG coordinate AF3 during extinction of a first conditioned stimulus. The remaining 18 participants received similar tDCS during extinction of a second conditioned stimulus. Sham stimulation was applied for the balance of extinction trials in both groups. Normalized skin conductance changes were analyzed using linear mixed models to evaluate effects of tDCS over late extinction and early recall trials. Results We observed a significant interaction between timing of tDCS during extinction blocks and changes in skin conductance reactivity over late extinction trials. These data indicate that tDCS was associated with accelerated late extinction learning of a second conditioned stimulus after tDCS was combined with extinction learning of a previous conditioned stimulus. No significant effects of tDCS timing were observed on early extinction recall. Conclusions Results could be explained by an anxiolytic aftereffect of tDCS and extend previous studies on tDCS-induced modulation of fear and threat related learning processes. These findings support further exploration of the clinical use of tDCS.

show abstract

“…Hence, one cannot draw definitive conclusions of whether the greater dlPFC function in the BI group for the incongruent-versus-congruent contrast modulates threat vigilance or disengagement. Additionally, while tDCS stimulation applied to the bilateral dlPFC reduced AB to fear faces in healthy adults (Ironside et al, 2015), the causal relation between dlPFC activation and specific component of AB remains unclear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, the dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) is implicated in ongoing maintenance of executive control, such as trial-by-trial voluntary attention allocation to support task-required performance in the presence of threat-related distractors (Bishop, 2008; 2009; Luks et al, 2007). Emerging research using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to increase excitability of the dlPFC suggests that dlPFC activity casually influences threat-related AB, likely by modulating attention to salient stimuli (Clarke et al, 2014; Ironside et al, 2015). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontolimbic functioning during threat-related attention: Relations to early behavioral inhibition and anxiety in children

Taber-Thomas

Pérez‐Edgar

2017

Biological Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Children with behavioral inhibition (BI), a temperament characterized by biologically-based hyper-vigilance to novelty, display threat-related attention biases (AB) that shape developmental trajectories of risk for anxiety. Here we explore the relations between BI, neural function, and anxiety. Fifty-six 9–12-year-olds (23 behaviorally inhibited) performed the dot-probe task while undergoing fMRI. AB scores were not associated with BI group or parent-rated anxiety symptoms. Trials requiring attention orienting away from threat engaged an executive and threat-attention network (dlPFC, vlPFC, mPFC, and amygdala). Within that network, behaviorally inhibited children showed greater activation in the right dlPFC. Heightened dlPFC activation related to increased anxiety, and BI levels accounted for the direct relation between dlPFC activation and anxiety. Behaviorally inhibited children may engage the executive attention system during threat-related processing as a compensatory mechanism. We provide preliminary evidence that the link between PFC functioning and anxiety might be attributed to early-emerging temperamental vulnerabilities present before the emergence of clinical anxiety.

show abstract

Frontal Cortex Stimulation Reduces Vigilance to Threat: Implications for the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety

Cited by 115 publications

References 52 publications

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression

Can Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Augment Extinction of Conditioned Fear?

Frontolimbic functioning during threat-related attention: Relations to early behavioral inhibition and anxiety in children

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About