Neural changes with attention bias modification for anxiety: a randomized trial

Jennifer C Britton; Jenna G Suway; Michelle A Clementi; Nathan A Fox; Daniel S Pine; Yair Bar-Haim

doi:10.1093/scan/nsu141

Back

Neural changes with attention bias modification for anxiety: a randomized trial

Journal article

Open access

Neural changes with attention bias modification for anxiety: a randomized trial

Jennifer C Britton, Jenna G Suway, Michelle A Clementi, Nathan A Fox, Daniel S Pine and Yair Bar-Haim

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, Vol.10(7), pp.913-920

2015-07

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu141

PMCID: PMC4483563

PMID: 25344944

Abstract

Psychomotor Performance

Amygdala - physiopathology

Humans

Facial Expression

Male

Social Environment

Functional Laterality

Anxiety Disorders - psychology

Emotions

Neuropsychological Tests

Young Adult

Attention - physiology

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - methods

Anxiety Disorders - therapy

Adolescent

Adult

Female

Face

Attention bias modification (ABM) procedures typically reduce anxiety symptoms, yet little is known about the neural changes associated with this behavioral treatment. Healthy adults with high social anxiety symptoms (n = 53) were randomized to receive either active or placebo ABM. Unlike placebo ABM, active ABM aimed to train individuals' attention away from threat. Using the dot-probe task, threat-related attention bias was measured during magnetic resonance imaging before and after acute and extended training over 4 weeks. A subset of participants completed all procedures (n = 30, 15 per group). Group differences in neural activation were identified using standard analyses. Linear regression tested predictive factors of symptom reduction (i.e., training group, baseline indices of threat bias). The active and placebo groups exhibited different patterns of right and left amygdala activation with training. Across all participants irrespective of group, individuals with greater left amygdala activation in the threat-bias contrast prior to training exhibited greater symptom reduction. After accounting for baseline amygdala activation, greater symptom reduction was associated with assignment to the active training group. Greater left amygdala activation at baseline predicted reductions in social anxiety symptoms following ABM. Further research is needed to clarify brain-behavior mechanisms associated with ABM training.

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu141View

Published (Version of record) Open

Metrics

26 Record Views

53 Times Cited - Web of Science

See more details

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 1 Clinical & Life Sciences; 1.7 Neuroscanning; 1.7.354 Emotion
Web Of Science research areas: Neurosciences; Psychology; Psychology, Experimental
ESI research areas: Neuroscience & Behavior

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites

Details

Title: Neural changes with attention bias modification for anxiety: a randomized trial
Creators: Jennifer C Britton - Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel j.britton@miami.edu
Jenna G Suway - Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel
Michelle A Clementi - Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel
Nathan A Fox - Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel
Daniel S Pine - Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel
Yair Bar-Haim - Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146 USA, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742 USA, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92120 USA, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204 USA, and School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel
Publication Details: Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, Vol.10(7), pp.913-920
Publisher: England
Grant note: R00 MH091183 / NIMH NIH HHS Intramural NIH HHS P50 MH078105 / NIMH NIH HHS
Academic Unit: College of A&S; A&S - Psychology
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
PMID: 25344944
PMCID: PMC4483563
Record Identifier: 991031560917902976