Trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat-related pictures
Abstract Previous studies on the associations between trait anxiety and amygdalar responses to threat stimuli have resulted in mixed findings, possibly due to sample characteristics, specific tasks, and analytical methods. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aimed to inves...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98023-7 |
| _version_ | 1818750937054838784 |
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| author | Huiyan Lin Wolfgang H. R. Miltner Thomas Straube |
| author_facet | Huiyan Lin Wolfgang H. R. Miltner Thomas Straube |
| author_sort | Huiyan Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Previous studies on the associations between trait anxiety and amygdalar responses to threat stimuli have resulted in mixed findings, possibly due to sample characteristics, specific tasks, and analytical methods. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aimed to investigate linear or non-linear associations between trait anxiety and amygdalar responses in a sample of participants with low, medium, and high trait anxiety scores. During scanning, participants were presented with threat-related or neutral pictures and had either to solve an emotional task or an emotional-unrelated distraction task. Results showed that only during the explicit task trait anxiety was associated with right amygdalar responses to threat-related pictures as compared to neutral pictures. The best model was a cubic model with increased amygdala responses for very low and medium trait anxiety values but decreased amygdala activation for very high trait anxiety values. The findings imply a non-linear relation between trait anxiety and amygdala activation depending on task conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T04:27:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-baad3678b277492baa07430dc0569b44 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T04:27:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-baad3678b277492baa07430dc0569b442022-12-21T21:21:05ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222021-09-0111111010.1038/s41598-021-98023-7Trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat-related picturesHuiyan Lin0Wolfgang H. R. Miltner1Thomas Straube2Institute of Applied Psychology, School of Public Administration, Guangdong University of FinanceDepartment of Clinical Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University of JenaInstitute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of MuensterAbstract Previous studies on the associations between trait anxiety and amygdalar responses to threat stimuli have resulted in mixed findings, possibly due to sample characteristics, specific tasks, and analytical methods. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aimed to investigate linear or non-linear associations between trait anxiety and amygdalar responses in a sample of participants with low, medium, and high trait anxiety scores. During scanning, participants were presented with threat-related or neutral pictures and had either to solve an emotional task or an emotional-unrelated distraction task. Results showed that only during the explicit task trait anxiety was associated with right amygdalar responses to threat-related pictures as compared to neutral pictures. The best model was a cubic model with increased amygdala responses for very low and medium trait anxiety values but decreased amygdala activation for very high trait anxiety values. The findings imply a non-linear relation between trait anxiety and amygdala activation depending on task conditions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98023-7 |
| spellingShingle | Huiyan Lin Wolfgang H. R. Miltner Thomas Straube Trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat-related pictures Scientific Reports |
| title | Trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat-related pictures |
| title_full | Trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat-related pictures |
| title_fullStr | Trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat-related pictures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat-related pictures |
| title_short | Trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat-related pictures |
| title_sort | trait anxiety predicts amygdalar responses during direct processing of threat related pictures |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98023-7 |
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