Fear inhibition in high trait anxiety.
Trait anxiety is recognized as an individual risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders but the neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown. Here we test whether trait anxiety is associated with impaired fear inhibition utilizing the AX+/BX- conditional discrimination procedure that allows for the independent evaluation of startle fear potentiation and inhibition of fear. Sixty undergraduate students participated in the study--High Trait Anxious: n = 28 and Low Trait Anxious: n = 32. We replicated earlier findings that a transfer of conditioned inhibition for startle responses requires contingency awareness. However, contrary to the fear inhibition hypothesis, our data suggest that high trait anxious individuals show a normal fear inhibition of conditioned startle responding. Only at the cognitive level the high trait anxious individuals showed evidence for impaired inhibitory learning of the threat cue. Together with other findings where impaired fear inhibition was only observed in those PTSD patients who were either high on hyperarousal symptoms or with current anxiety symptoms, we question whether impaired fear inhibition is a biomarker for the development of anxiety disorders.
Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; Research Priority Program Brain and Cognition, Cognitive Science Center Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Merel
M
Kindt
Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Marieke
M
Soeter
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001767:Blinking; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult