BACKGROUND: Altered amygdala activation in response to the emotional matching faces (EMF) task, a task thought to reflect implicit emotion detection and reactivity, has been found in some patients with internalizing disorders; mixed findings from the EMF suggest individual differences (within and/or across diagnoses) that may be important to consider. Attention Bias Modification (ABM), a mechanistic attention-targeting intervention, has demonstrated efficacy in treatment of internalizing disorders. Individual differences in neural activation to a relatively attention-independent task, such as the EMF, could reveal novel neural substrates relevant in ABM's transdiagnostic effects, such as the brain's generalized threat reactivity capacity. METHODS: In a sample of clinically anxious patients randomized to ABM (n = 43) or sham training (n = 18), we measured fMRI activation patterns during the EMF and related them to measures of transdiagnostic internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxious arousal, general distress, anhedonic depression, and general depressive symptoms). RESULTS: Lower baseline right amygdala activation to negative (fearful/angry) faces, relative to shapes, predicted greater pre-to-post reduction in general depression symptoms in ABM-randomized patients. Greater increases in bilateral amygdalae activation from pre-to-post ABM were associated with greater reductions in general distress, anhedonic depression, and general depression symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: ABM may lead to greater improvement in depressive symptoms in individuals exhibiting blunted baseline amygdalar responses to the EMF task, potentially by enhancing neural-level discrimination between negative and unambiguously neutral stimuli. Convergently, longitudinal increases in amygdala reactivity from pre-to-post-ABM may be associated with greater improvement in depression, possibly secondary to improved neural discrimination of threat and/or decreased neurophysiological threat avoidance in these specific patients.
BACKGROUND: Altered amygdala activation in response to the emotional matching faces (EMF) task, a task thought to reflect implicit emotion detection and reactivity, has been found in some patients with internalizing disorders; mixed findings from the EMF suggest individual differences (within and/or across diagnoses) that may be important to consider. Attention Bias Modification (ABM), a mechanistic attention-targeting intervention, has demonstrated efficacy in treatment of internalizing disorders. Individual differences in neural activation to a relatively attention-independent task, such as the EMF, could reveal novel neural substrates relevant in ABM's transdiagnostic effects, such as the brain's generalized threat reactivity capacity. METHODS: In a sample of clinically anxious patients randomized to ABM (n = 43) or sham training (n = 18), we measured fMRI activation patterns during the EMF and related them to measures of transdiagnostic internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxious arousal, general distress, anhedonic depression, and general depressive symptoms). RESULTS: Lower baseline right amygdala activation to negative (fearful/angry) faces, relative to shapes, predicted greater pre-to-post reduction in general depression symptoms in ABM-randomized patients. Greater increases in bilateral amygdalae activation from pre-to-post ABM were associated with greater reductions in general distress, anhedonic depression, and general depression symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: ABM may lead to greater improvement in depressive symptoms in individuals exhibiting blunted baseline amygdalar responses to the EMF task, potentially by enhancing neural-level discrimination between negative and unambiguously neutral stimuli. Convergently, longitudinal increases in amygdala reactivity from pre-to-post-ABM may be associated with greater improvement in depression, possibly secondary to improved neural discrimination of threat and/or decreased neurophysiological threat avoidance in these specific patients.
Authors: D W Frank; M Dewitt; M Hudgens-Haney; D J Schaeffer; B H Ball; N F Schwarz; A A Hussein; L M Smart; D Sabatinelli Journal: Neurosci Biobehav Rev Date: 2014-06-28 Impact factor: 8.989
Authors: Gregory A Fonzo; Holly J Ramsawh; Taru M Flagan; Sarah G Sullivan; Andrea Letamendi; Alan N Simmons; Martin P Paulus; Murray B Stein Journal: Br J Psychiatry Date: 2015-01-08 Impact factor: 9.319
Authors: Paolo Fusar-Poli; Anna Placentino; Francesco Carletti; Paola Landi; Paul Allen; Simon Surguladze; Francesco Benedetti; Marta Abbamonte; Roberto Gasparotti; Francesco Barale; Jorge Perez; Philip McGuire; Pierluigi Politi Journal: J Psychiatry Neurosci Date: 2009-11 Impact factor: 6.186
Authors: Claudia Hägele; Eva Friedel; Florian Schlagenhauf; Philipp Sterzer; Anne Beck; Felix Bermpohl; Meline Stoy; Dada Held-Poschardt; André Wittmann; Andreas Ströhle; Andreas Heinz Journal: Neurosci Lett Date: 2016-04-26 Impact factor: 3.046
Authors: Rebecca B Price; Dana Rosen; Greg J Siegle; Cecile D Ladouceur; Kevin Tang; Kristy Benoit Allen; Neal D Ryan; Ronald E Dahl; Erika E Forbes; Jennifer S Silk Journal: J Abnorm Psychol Date: 2015-11-23