title: Subliminal processing of emotional information in anxiety and depression.
abstract: The study investigated selective processing of emotional information in anxiety and depression using a modified Stroop color naming task. Anxious (n = 19), depressed (n = 18), and normal control (n = 18) subjects were required to name the background colors of anxiety-related, depression-related, positive, categorized, and uncategorized neutral words. Half of the words were presented supraliminally, half subliminally. Anxious subjects, compared with depressed and normal subjects, showed relatively slower color naming for both supraliminal and subliminal negative words. The results suggest a preattentive processing bias for negative information in anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, England.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mogg
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mathews
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001364:Awareness; D003071:Cognition; D003118:Color Perception; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation; D014825:Vocabulary