title: Neuropsychological test performance in social anxiety disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The effect of state factors on neuropsychological performance in social anxiety disorder (SAD) has not been thoroughly investigated and the overall neuropsychological profile remains poorly understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary objective of the study was to investigate the effect of state anxiety and state emotion suppression on neuropsychological performance in SAD.
  
  
  METHODS
  A neuropsychological test battery was administered before and after an anxiety manipulation (instruction to give a video-recorded speech) to 42 patients with SAD and to a gender and education matched group of 42 healthy controls (HCs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, participants with SAD performed worse than HCs on processing speed, visuospatial construction, visuospatial memory, verbal learning and word fluency, of which only the decreased visuospatial construction performance was considered clinically significant. State anxiety was not associated with neuropsychological performance at baseline, whereas state emotion suppression predicted decreased visuospatial memory in HCs and decreased verbal learning in the SAD group. Both groups performed better on working memory, processing speed and spatial anticipation, and worse on verbal learning and memory following the anxiety manipulation. The increase in state anxiety was associated with the decrease in verbal learning in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Participants with SAD showed clinically significant difficulties with visuospatial construction and may experience verbal learning difficulties when suppressing emotions and experiencing an increase in anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Mia Skytte O'Toole, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus University , Denmark.
authors.forename: Mia Skytte
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: O'Toole
authors.forename: Anders Degn
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Esben
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hougaard
authors.forename: Nicole K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D013060:Speech
keywords: Cognitive functioning; Emotion regulation; Emotion suppression; Neuropsychology; Social phobia