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Influence of trait anxiety on brain activity during the acquisition and extinction of aversive conditioning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2008

J. Barrett  and
J. L. Armony
J. Barrett
Affiliation:
Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
J. L. Armony*
Affiliation:
Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr J. L. Armony, Douglas Institute, McGill University, 6875 LaSalle Boulevard, Verdun, QuebecH4H 1R3, Canada. (Email: jorge.armony@mcgill.ca)
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Abstract

Background

We examined how individual differences in trait anxiety (TA) influence the neural responses associated with the acquisition and extinction of anticipatory anxiety elicited through a context conditioning paradigm, with particular focus on the amygdala and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC).

Method

During two sessions of echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 18 healthy volunteers completed a decision-making task with two randomly alternating 28-s to 32-s background screen colour blocks. One of the colours was associated with the presentation of an aversive noise (CTX+) and the other colour was ‘safe’ (CTX−). In the first session (Acquisition), 33% of CTX+ colour blocks were paired with noise and in the second session (Extinction) no noise was presented.

Results

The amygdala displayed an increased response to CTX+ compared to CTX− colour blocks during the Acquisition and Extinction sessions and the ACC displayed an increased response to CTX+ compared to CTX− colour blocks during Extinction only. In addition, a greater conditioned response (CTX+ minus CTX−) was observed in the ACC when comparing the Extinction and Acquisition sessions. Correlation analyses further showed that higher levels of TA were associated with a higher conditioned response in the amygdala during Extinction as well as a greater differential conditioned response (i.e. Extinction>Acquisition) in the ACC.

Conclusions

Our results support the idea that individuals with high levels of anxiety-relevant traits and vulnerable to developing an anxiety disorder display a more resilient anxiety response during extinction that is characterized by hyper-responsivity in the amygdala.

Keywords

Amygdalaanterior cingulate cortexanxietycontext conditioningextinctionfunctional magnetic resonance imaging
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , February 2009 , pp. 255 - 265
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

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