Relationship between trait anxiety, prefrontal cortex, and attention bias to angry faces in children and adolescents.
Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a visual-probe task that assesses attention to threat, we investigated the cognitive and neurophysiological correlates of trait anxiety in youth. During fMRI acquisition, 16 healthy children and adolescents viewed angry-neutral face pairs and responded to a probe that was on the same (angry-congruent) or opposite (angry-incongruent) side as the angry face. Attention bias scores were calculated by subtracting participants' mean reaction time for angry-congruent trials from angry-incongruent trials. Trait anxiety was positively associated with attention bias towards angry faces. Neurophysiologically, trait anxiety was positively associated with right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation on a contrast of trials that reflect the attention bias for angry faces (i.e. angry-incongruent versus angry-congruent trials). Trait anxiety was also positively associated with right ventrolateral PFC activation on trials with face stimuli (vesus baseline), irrespective of their emotional content.
Telzer
Eva H
EH
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ehtelzer@ucla.edu
Mogg
Karin
K
Bradley
Brendan P
BP
Mai
Xiaoqin
X
Ernst
Monique
M
Pine
Daniel S
DS
Monk
Christopher S
CS
D000293:Adolescent; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D015982:Bias; D002648:Child; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology
D010100:Oxygen