Neural response to the observable self in social anxiety disorder

Abstract

Background. Distorted images of the observable self are considered crucial in the development and maintenance of social anxiety. We generated an experimental situation in which participants viewed themselves from an observer's perspective when exposed to scrutiny and evaluation by others.Method. Twenty patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and 20 control subjects were assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the public exposure of pre-recorded videos in which they were each shown performing a verbal task. The examiners acted as the audience in the experiment and rated performance. Whole-brain functional maps were computed using Statistical Parametric Mapping.Results. Robust activation was observed in regions related to self-face recognition, emotional response and general arousal in both study groups. Patients showed significantly greater activation only in the primary visual cortex. By contrast, they showed significant deactivation or smaller activation in dorsal frontoparietal and anterior cingulate cortices relevant to the cognitive control of negative emotion. Task-related anxiety ratings revealed a pattern of negative correlation with activation in this frontoparietal/cingulate network. Importantly, the relationship between social anxiety scores and neural response showed an inverted-U function with positive correlations in the lower score range and negative correlations in the higher range.Conclusions. Our findings suggest that exposure to scrutiny and evaluation in SAD may be associated with changes in cortical systems mediating the cognitive components of anxiety. Disorder severity seems to be relevant in shaping the neural response pattern, which is distinctively characterized by a reduced cortical response in the most severe cases.

Facial emotion processing in patients with social anxiety disorder and Williams–Beuren syndrome: an fMRI study

“…It should be noted, however, that although no significant between-group differences emerged, the between-groups analysis revealed that whereas matching angry or fearful faces did not produce amygdala activation in the WBS group, there was significant bilateral amygdala activation under the happy condition, a pattern that resembles findings reported in previous studies. [18][19][20] Another finding in our WBS group was that relative to controls, matching faces (v. matching shapes) produced significantly less activation in the posterior region of the primary visual cortex corresponding to the foveal vision, 34 which is responsible for visual acuity and processing of features and fine details. 35 Furthermore, in comparison with both the SAD and control groups, the WBS group did not activate the right lateral inferior occipital cortex, a region that might correspond to the so-called occipital face area (OFA; for a review see the study by Pitcher and colleagues 36 ).…”

“…Although several studies have reported an exaggerated limbic response in patients with SAD (see the study by Binelli and colleagues 16 ) others have failed to find limbic hyperactivity [20][21][22] or have even found a decreased amygdala response. 59 For example, Pujol and colleagues 20 used a paradigm in which participants viewed prerecorded videos of themselves performing a task in front of an audience, a highly distressing situation for patients with SAD.…”

“…18 Regarding SAD, hyperactivation of limbic regions has been a widely replicated finding across studies. 16 Abnormal functioning of cortical prefrontal regions involved in the topdown modulation of anxiety has also been proposed to be a core deficit in patients with SAD [20][21][22][23] and may contribute to abnormal regulation of the amygdala in those with WBS. 17 With the aim of identifying common and specific neural correlates during facial emotion processing in patients with SAD and WBS, to our knowledge, we compared for the first time fMRI neural responses during a facial emotion processing paradigm among adults with SAD and WBS and healthy controls.…”

Functional Correlation between Breathing and Emotional States

“…Neuroscientists have been using braining imaging studies to understand anatomical signatures for emotional states [1][2][3][4][5][6], establishing the brain regions that are activated in synchrony in a given emotion or mood. Emotions generate not only brain signatures but also body (somatic) signatures in the form of responses in the peripheral nervous system and behavioral expression.…”

Fire Safety Systems in Buildings-Problems and Concerns beyond the Projec

“…Only in Berna's canton occurred 1538 fires in industrial buildings corresponding to 45070 million dollars in damage. Another study performed in the Great Britain [2] refers that around 800 persons die and around 15000 are injured per year due to fire incidents. These and other testimonials are sufficient to understand the impact of fire safety and the existence of a fire risk assessment.…”