title: Assessing fear and anxiety in humans using the threat of predictable and unpredictable aversive events (the NPU-threat test).
abstract: The threat of predictable and unpredictable aversive events was developed to assess short-duration (fear) and long-duration (anxiety) aversive states in humans. A typical experiment consists of three conditions: a safe condition (neutral (N)), during which participants are safe from aversive stimuli, and two threat conditions-one in which aversive events are administered predictably (P) (i.e., signaled by a threat cue), and one in which aversive stimuli are administered unpredictably (U). During the so-called NPU-threat test, ongoing change in aversive states is measured with the startle reflex. The NPU-threat test has been validated in pharmacological and clinical studies and can be implemented in children and adults. Similar procedures have been applied in animal models, making the NPU-threat test an ideal tool for translational research. The procedure is relatively short (35 min), simple to implement and generates consistent results with large effect sizes.
authors.affiliation: Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. schmitza2@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grillon
mesh_terms: D059031:Anticipation, Psychological; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011581:Psychological Tests; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*