Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Behavioral Neurobiology of Anxiety and Its Treatment pp 205–228Cite as

Behavioral Correlates of Anxiety

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 2))

Abstract

The tripartite model of anxiety includes three response domains: cognitive (most often identified by self report), behavioral, and physiological. Each is suggested to bring a separate element of response characteristics and, in some cases, potentially independent underlying mechanisms to the construct of anxiety. In this chapter, commonly used behavioral correlates of anxiety in human research, including startle reflex, attentional bias, and avoidance tasks, as well as future tasks using virtual reality technology will be discussed. The focus will be in evaluating their translational utility supported by (1) convergent validity with other measures of anxiety traits or anxiety disorders, (2) their use in identifying neural and genetic mechanisms of anxiety, and (3) ability to predict treatment efficacy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    As opposed to humans, rodents are nocturnal, and lit conditions tend to be more threatening as they increase the chances of being observed by predators.

  2. 2.

    How does this fit with the efficacy of benzodiazepines in the clinic? One might expect then that phobias to specific cues, which on its face would be the most similar form of anxiety to the fear potentiated model, are less treatable by benzodiazepines, and indeed, behavioral therapy has been the most effective first line treatment for specific phobias (Argyropoulos and Nutt 1999; Davidson 1997; Verster and Volkerts 2004). There is evidence, however, that benzodiazepines reduce fear and behavioral avoidance in claustrophobia (Tschirch et al. 2007), agoraphobia (Carter et al. 1995), and public speaking (Graeff et al. 2003; Lee 2004). Thus, although benzodiazepines are not first line treatments for most phobias due to interference with extinction processes(Lee 2004), sedation, toxicity and abuse potential, they are effective in short term reduction of phobic symptoms. Benzodiazepines have been shown to reduce self report of fear but not behavioral measures of fear (reduced approach) in animal phobia (Sartory et al. 1990); however, higher doses of benzodiazepines reduce both anxiety and approach behavior (Whitehead et al. 1978). These data suggest that behavioral manifestations of phobias may be more resilient to benzodiazepine treatment than the conscious fear emotions, although this speculation requires testing.

References

  • Allen NB, Trinder J, Brennan C (1999) Affective startle modulation in clinical depression: preliminary findings. Biol Psychiatry 46:542

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Antoniadis EA, Winslow JT, Davis M, Amaral DG (2007) Role of the primate amygdala in fear-potentiated startle: effects of chronic lesions in the rhesus monkey. J Neurosci 27:7386–7396

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Argyropoulos SV, Nutt DJ (1999) The use of benzodiazepines in anxiety and other disorders. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 9:S407

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Astur RS, St Germain SA, Tolin D, Ford J, Russell D, Stevens M (2006) Hippocampus function predicts severity of post-traumatic stress disorder. Cyberpsychol Behav 9:234–240

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Astur RS, Taylor LB, Mamelak AN, Philpott L, Sutherland RJ (2002) Humans with hippocampus damage display severe spatial memory impairments in a virtual Morris water task. Behav Brain Res 132:77

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baas JM, Grillon C, Bocker KB, Brack AA, Morgan CA III, Kenemans JL, Verbaten MN (2002) Benzodiazepines have no effect on fear-potentiated startle in humans. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 161:233–247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baas JM, Nugent M, Lissek S, Pine DS, Grillon C (2004) Fear conditioning in virtual reality contexts: a new tool for the study of anxiety. Biol Psychiatry 55:1056–1060

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baas JMP, van Ooijen L, Goudriaan A, Kenemans JL (2008) Failure to condition to a cue is associated with sustained contextual fear. Acta Psychologica 127:581

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baekken P, Skorpen F, Stordal E, Zwart J-A, Hagen K (2008) Depression and anxiety in relation to catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met genotype in the general population: the Nord-Trondelag Health Study (HUNT). BMC Psychiatry 8:48

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey JE, Nutt DJ (2008) GABA-A receptors and the response to CO(2) inhalation – a translational trans-species model of anxiety? Pharmacol Biochem Behav 90:51–57

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baker DB, Risbrough VB, Schork NJ (2008) Post-traumatic stress disorder: genetic and environmental risk factors. In: Lukey BJ, Tepe V (eds) Biobehavioral resilience to stress. Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, FL, pp 177–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop SJ (2007) Neurocognitive mechanisms of anxiety: an integrative account. Trends Cogn Sci 11:307

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bitsios P, Philpott A, Langley RW, Bradshaw CM, Szabadi E (1999) Comparison of the effects of diazepam on the fear-potentiated startle reflex and the fear-inhibited light reflex in man. J Psychopharmacol 13:226–234

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard CD, Hynd AL, Minke KA, Minemoto T, Blanchard RJ (2001) Human defensive behaviors to threat scenarios show parallels to fear- and anxiety-related defense patterns of non-human mammals. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 25:761

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley BP, Mogg K, White J, Groom C, de Bono J (1999) Attentional bias for emotional faces in generalized anxiety disorder. Br J Clin Psychol 38(Pt 3):267–278

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brocke B, Armbruster D, Muller J, Hensch T, Jacob CP, Lesch KP, Kirschbaum C, Strobel A (2006) Serotonin transporter gene variation impacts innate fear processing: acoustic startle response and emotional startle. Mol Psychiatry 11:1106

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown JS, Kalish HI, Farber IE (1951) Conditioned fear as revealed by magnitude of startle response to an auditory stimulus. J Exp Psychol 41:317–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Browning M, Reid C, Cowen PJ, Goodwin GM, Harmer CJ (2007) A single dose of citalopram increases fear recognition in healthy subjects. J Psychopharmacol 21:684–690

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan TW, Tranel D, Adolphs R (2004) Anteromedial temporal lobe damage blocks startle modulation by fear and disgust. Behav Neurosci 118:429–437

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson SR, Katsanis J, Iacono WG, McGue M (1997) Emotional modulation of the startle reflex in twins: preliminary findings. Biol Psychol 46:235–246

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carter CS, Fawcett J, Hertzman M, Papp LA, Jones W, Patterson WM, Swinson RP, Weise CC, Maddock RJ, Denahan AQ et al (1995) Adinazolam-SR in panic disorder with agoraphobia: relationship of daily dose to efficacy. J Clin Psychiatry 56:202–210

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caseras FX, Fullana MA, Riba J, Barbanoj MJ, Aluja A, Torrubia R (2006) Influence of individual differences in the Behavioral Inhibition System and stimulus content (fear versus blood-disgust) on affective startle reflex modulation. Biol Psychol 72:251

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chorpita BF, Taylor AA (2001) Behavioral assessment of anxiety disorders. In: Antony MM, Orsillo SM, Roemer L (eds) Practitioner's guide to empirically based measures of anxiety. Springer, NY, pp 19–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook EW III, Davis TL, Hawk LW, Spence EL, Gautier CH (1992) Fearfulness and startle potentiation during aversive visual stimuli. Psychophysiology 29:633–645

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cornwell BR, Johnson L, Berardi L, Grillon C (2006) Anticipation of public speaking in virtual reality reveals a relationship between trait social anxiety and startle reactivity. Biol Psychiatry 59:664–666

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson JR (1997) Use of benzodiazepines in panic disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 58:26–28

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis M (1979) Diazepam and flurazepam: effects on conditioned fear as measured with the potentiated startle paradigm. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 62:1–7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis M (2006) Neural systems involved in fear and anxiety measured with fear-potentiated startle. Am Psychol 61:741–756

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis M, Antoniadis EA, Amaral DG, Winslow JT (2008) Acoustic startle reflex in rhesus monkeys: a review. Rev Neurosci 19:171–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis M, Falls WA, Campeau S, Kim M (1993) Fear-potentiated startle: a neural and pharmacological analysis. Behav Brain Res JID – 8004872 58:175–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson ME, Schell AM, Filion DL (2000) The electrodermal system. In: Cacioppo JT, Tassinary LG, Berntson GG (eds) Handbook of psychophysiology, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, NY, pp 200–223

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong PJ, Arntz A, Merchelbach H (1993) The startle probe response as an instrument for evaluating exposure effects in spider phobia. Adv Behav Res Ther 15:301–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Jongh R, Groenink L, van Der Gugten J, Olivier B (2002) The light-enhanced startle paradigm as a putative animal model for anxiety: effects of chlordiazepoxide, flesinoxan and fluvoxamine. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 159:176–180

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Devineni T, Blanchard EB, Hickling EJ, Buckley TC (2004) Effect of psychological treatment on cognitive bias in motor vehicle accident-related posttraumatic stress disorder. J Anxiety Disord 18:211

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dunayevich E, Erickson J, Levine L, Landbloom R, Schoepp DD, Tollefson GD (2007) Efficacy and tolerability of an mGlu2//3 agonist in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 33:1603

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fannes S, Van Diest I, Meulders A, De Peuter S, Vansteenwegen D, Van den Bergh O (2008) To inhale or not to inhale: conditioned avoidance in breathing behavior in an odor–20% CO2 paradigm. Biol Psychol 78:87

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fanselow MS, DeCola JP, De Oca B, Landeira-Fernandez J (1995) Ventral and dorsolateral regions of the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) control different stages of defensive behavior: dorsolateral PAG lesions enhance the defensive freezing produced by massed and immediate shock. Aggress Behav 21:61–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fridlund AJ, Cacioppo JT (1986) Guidelines for human electromyographic research. Psychophysiology 23:567–589

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fullana MA, Caseras X, Riba J, Barbanoj M, Torrubia R (2006) Influence of individual differences in Behavioral Inhibition System on the magnitude and time course of the fear-potentiated startle. Int J Psychophysiol 60:323–329

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Funayama ES, Grillon C, Davis M, Phelps EA (2001) A double dissociation in the affective modulation of startle in humans: effects of unilateral temporal lobectomy. J Cogn Neurosci 13:721–729 JID-8910747

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goozen SHM, Snoek H, Matthys W, Rossum I, Engeland H (2004) Evidence of fearlessness in behaviourally disordered children: a study on startle reflex modulation. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 45:884–892

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gottesman II, Gould TD (2003) The endophenotype concept in psychiatry: etymology and strategic intentions. Am J Psychiatry 160:636–645

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graeff FG, Parente A, Del-Ben CM, Guimaraes FS (2003) Pharmacology of human experimental anxiety. Braz J Med Biol Res 36:421–432

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham SJ, Scaife JC, Langley RW, Bradshaw CM, Szabadi E, Xi L, Crumley T, Calder N, Gottesdiener K, Wagner JA (2005) Effects of lorazepam on fear-potentiated startle responses in man. J Psychopharmacol 19:249–258

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C (2008) Models and mechanisms of anxiety: evidence from startle studies. Psychopharmacology 199:421

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Ameli R (2001) Conditioned inhibition of fear-potentiated startle and skin conductance in humans. Psychophysiology 38:807–815

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Ameli R, Foot M, Davis M (1993) Fear-potentiated startle: relationship to the level of state/trait anxiety in healthy subjects. Biol Psychiatry 33:566–574 JID-0213264

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Ameli R, Goddard A, Woods SW, Davis M (1994) Baseline and fear-potentiated startle in panic disorder patients. Biol Psychiatry 35:431–439 JID-0213264

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Baas J (2003) A review of the modulation of the startle reflex by affective states and its application in psychiatry. Clin Neurophysiol 114:1557–1579

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Baas JMP, Cornwell B, Johnson L (2006a) Context conditioning and behavioral avoidance in a virtual reality environment: effect of predictability. Biol Psychiatry 60:752

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Baas JMP, Pine DS, Lissek S, Lawley M, Ellis V, Levine J (2006b) The benzodiazepine alprazolam dissociates contextual fear from cued fear in humans as assessed by fear-potentiated startle. Biol Psychiatry 60:760

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Cordova J, Levine L, Morgan IIIC (2003) Anxiolytic effects of a novel group II metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist (LY354740) in the fear-potentiated startle paradigm in humans. Psychopharmacology 168:446

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Dierker L, Merikangas KR (1997a) Startle modulation in children at risk for anxiety disorders and/or alcoholism. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 36:925–932

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Dierker L, Merikangas KR (1998a) Fear-potentiated startle in adolescent offspring of parents with anxiety disorders. Biol Psychiatry 44:990–997

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Lissek S, Rabin S, McDowell D, Dvir S, Pine DS (2008) Increased anxiety during anticipation of unpredictable but not predictable aversive stimuli as a psychophysiologic marker of panic disorder. Am J Psychiatry 165:898–904 appi.ajp.2007.07101581

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Morgan CA III, Davis M, Southwick SM (1998b) Effect of darkness on acoustic startle in Vietnam veterans with PTSD. Am J Psychiatry 155:812–817

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Morgan CA III, Davis M, Southwick SM (1998c) Effects of experimental context and explicit threat cues on acoustic startle in Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Biol Psychiatry 44:1027–1036

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Morgan CA, Southwick SM, Davis M, Charney DS (1996) Baseline startle amplitude and prepulse inhibition in Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Res 64:169–178

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Pellowski M, Merikangas KR, Davis M (1997b) Darkness facilitates the acoustic startle reflex in humans. Biol Psychiatry 42:453–460

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Pine DS, Baas JMP, Lawley M, Ellis V, Charney DS (2006c) Cortisol and DHEA-S are associated with startle potentiation during aversive conditioning in humans. Psychopharmacology 186:434–441

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grillon C, Warner V, Hille J, Merikangas KR, Bruder GE, Tenke CE, Nomura Y, Leite P, Weissman MM (2005) Families at high and low risk for depression: a three-generation startle study. Biol Psychiatry 57:953

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grüsser S, Wölfling K, Mörsen C, Kathmann N, Flor H (2007) The influence of current mood on affective startle modulation. Exp Brain Res 177:122

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guthrie RM, Bryant RA (2005) Auditory startle response in firefighters before and after trauma exposure. Am J Psychiatry 162:283–290

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harb GC, Eng W, Zaider T, Heimberg RG (2003) Behavioral assessment of public-speaking anxiety using a modified version of the social performance rating scale. Behav Res Ther 41:1373–1380

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harmer CJ, Shelley NC, Cowen PJ, Goodwin GM (2004) Increased positive versus negative affective perception and memory in healthy volunteers following selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibition. Am J Psychiatry 161:1256–1263

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hawk LW Jr, Kowmas AD (2003) Affective modulation and prepulse inhibition of startle among undergraduates high and low in behavioral inhibition and approach. Psychophysiology 40:131–138

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Helton DR, Tizzano JP, Monn JA, Schoepp DD, Kallman MJ (1998) Anxiolytic and side-effect profile of LY354740: a potent, highly selective, orally active agonist for group II metabotropic glutamate receptors. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 284:651–660

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson PL, Truitt WA, Fitz SD, Lowry CA, Shekhar A (2007) Neural Pathways Underlying Lactate-Induced Panic. Neuropsychopharmacology 33:2093–2107

    Google Scholar 

  • Jovanovic T et al (2009) Posttraumatic stress disorder may be associated with impaired fear inhibition: Relation to symptom severity, Psychiatry Research 167(1–2):151–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaloupek DG, Levis DJ (1983) Issues in the assessment of fear: response concordance and prediction of avoidance behavior. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 5:239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaviani H, Gray JA, Checkley SA, Raven PW, Wilson GD, Kumari V (2004) Affective modulation of the startle response in depression: influence of the severity of depression, anhedonia, and anxiety. J Affect Disord 83:21–31

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keck ME, Strohle A (2005) Challenge studies in anxiety disorders. Handb Exp Pharmacol 169:449–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellner M, Yehuda R (1999) Do panic disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder share a common psychoneuroendocrinology? Psychoneuroendocrinology 24:485–504

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lang PJ (1968) Fear reduction and fear behavior: problems in treating a construct. In: Schlien J (ed) Research in psychotherapy. American Psychiatric Press, Washington, DC, pp 90–103

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lang PJ, Bradley MM, Cuthbert BN (1998) Emotion and motivation: measuring affective perception. J Clin Neurophysiol 15:397–408

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lang PJ, Bradley MM, Cuthbert BN, Patrick CJ (1993) Emotion and psychopathology: a startle probe analysis. Prog Exp Pers Psychopathol Res 16:163–199

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lang PJ, Davis M (2006) Emotion, motivation, and the brain: reflex foundations in animal and human research. In: Anders S, Ende G, Junghofer M, Kissler J, Wildgruber D (eds) Progress in brain research. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 3

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen DK, Norton GR, Walker JR, Stein MB (2002) Analysis of startle responses in patients with panic disorder and social phobia. Cogn Behav Ther 31:156–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LeDoux JE (2000) Emotion circuits in the brain. Annu Rev Neurosci 23:155–184

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee B (2004) Pharmacotherapy for performance anxiety disorders: occasionally useful but typically contraindicated. J Clin Psychol 60:867–879

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liberman LC, Lipp OV, Spence SH, March S (2006) Evidence for retarded extinction of aversive learning in anxious children. Behav Res Ther 44:1491–1502

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lissek S, Powers AS, McClure EB, Phelps EA, Woldehawariat G, Grillon C, Pine DS (2005) Classical fear conditioning in the anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis. Behav Res Ther 43:1391–1424

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ludewig S, Geyer MA, Ramseier M, Vollenweider FX, Rechsteiner E, Cattapan-Ludewig K (2005) Information-processing deficits and cognitive dysfunction in panic disorder. J Psychiatry Neurosci 30:37–43

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ludewig S, Ludewig K, Geyer MA, Hell D, Vollenweider FX (2002) Prepulse inhibition deficits in patients with panic disorder. Depress Anxiety 15:55–60

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mansell W, Clark DM (1999) How do I appear to others? Social anxiety and processing of the observable self. Behav Res Ther 37:419–434

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mathews A, MacLeod C (1985) Selective processing of threat cues in anxiety states. Beh Res Ther 23:563–569

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mathews A, MacLeod C (1994) Cognitive approaches to emotion and emotional disorders. Annu Rev Psychol 45:25–50

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mathews A, MacLeod C (2005) Cognitive vulnerability to emotional disorders. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 1:167–195

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mathews A, Mogg K, Kentish J, Eysenck M (1995) Effect of psychological treatment on cognitive bias in generalized anxiety disorder. Behav Res Ther 33:293

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mavissakalian M, Hamann MS (1986) Assessment and significance of behavioral avoidance in agoraphobia. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 8:317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNaughton N, Corr PJ (2004) A two-dimensional neuropsychology of defense: fear/anxiety and defensive distance. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 28:285

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Melzig CA, Weike AI, Zimmermann J, Hamm AO (2007) Startle reflex modulation and autonomic responding during anxious apprehension in panic disorder patients. Psychophysiology 44:846–854

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Merikangas K, Pine D (2004) Genetic and other vulnerability factors for anxiety and stress disorders. In: Davis KL, Charney DS, Coyle JT, Nemeroff C (eds) Neuropsychopharmacology the fifth generation of progress. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, pp 867–882

    Google Scholar 

  • Merikangas KR, Avenevoli S, Dierker L, Grillon C (1999) Vulnerability factors among children at risk for anxiety disorders. Biol Psychiatry 46:1523–1535

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Milad MR, Quirk GJ (2002) Neurons in medial prefrontal cortex signal memory for fear extinction. Nature 420:70–74

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mobbs D, Petrovic P, Marchant JL, Hassabis D, Weiskopf N, Seymour B, Dolan RJ, Frith CD (2007) When fear is near: threat imminence elicits prefrontal-periaqueductal gray shifts in humans. Science 317:1079–1083

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Baldwin DS, Brodrick P, Bradley BP (2004) Effect of short-term SSRI treatment on cognitive bias in generalised anxiety disorder. Psychopharmacology 176:466

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Bradley BP (1998) A cognitive-motivational analysis of anxiety. Behav Res Ther 36:809–848

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Bradley BP (1999) Some methodological issues in assessing attentional biases for threatening faces in anxiety: a replication study using a modified version of the probe detection task. Behav Res Ther 37:595

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Bradley BP, Williams R (1995) Attentional bias in anxiety and depression: the role of awareness. Br J Clin Psychol 34(Pt 1):17–36

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Holmes A, Garner M, Bradley BP (2008) Effects of threat cues on attentional shifting, disengagement and response slowing in anxious individuals. Behav Res Ther 46:656

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Millar N, Bradley BP (2000) Biases in eye movements to threatening facial expressions in generalized anxiety disorder and depressive disorder. J Abnorm Psychol 109:695–704

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Monk CS, Telzer EH, Mogg K, Bradley BP, Mai X, Louro HMC, Chen G, McClure-Tone EB, Ernst M, Pine DS (2008) Amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activation to masked angry faces in children and adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 65:568–576

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Montag C, Buckholtz JW, Hartmann P, Merz M, Burk C, Reuter M (2008) COMT genetic variation affects fear processing: psychophysiological evidence. Behav Neurosci 122:901–999

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy S, Downham C, Cowen P, Harmer C (2008) Direct effects of diazepam on emotional processing in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology 199:503

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Myers KM, Davis M (2002) Behavioral and neural analysis of extinction. Neuron 36:567–584

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nitschke JB, Larson CL, Smoller MJ, Navin SD, Pederson AJ, Ruffalo D, Mackiewicz KL, Gray SM, Victor E, Davidson RJ (2002) Startle potentiation in aversive anticipation: evidence for state but not trait effects. Psychophysiology 39:254–258

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norberg MM, Krystal JH, Tolin DF (2008) A meta-analysis of D-cycloserine and the facilitation of fear extinction and exposure therapy. Biol Psychiatry 63:1118

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norrholm SD, Jovanovic T, Vervliet B, Myers KM, Davis M, Rothbaum BO, Duncan EJ (2006) Conditioned fear extinction and reinstatement in a human fear-potentiated startle paradigm. Learn Mem 13:681–685

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nutt DJ, Malizia AL (2004) Structural and functional brain changes in posttraumatic stress disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 65(Suppl 1):11–17

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Orr SP, Metzger LJ, Lasko NB, Macklin ML, Peri T, Pitman RK (2000) De novo conditioning in trauma-exposed individuals with and without posttraumatic stress disorder. J Abnorm Psychol 109:290–298

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Orr SP, Solomon Z, Peri T, Pitman RK, Shalev AY (1997) Physiologic responses to loud tones in Israeli veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Biol Psychiatry 41:319–326

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patrick CJ, Berthot BD, Moore JD (1996) Diazepam blocks fear-potentiated startle in humans. J Abnorm Psychol 105:89–96

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paulus MP (2008) The role of neuroimaging for the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders. Depress Anxiety 25:348–356

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perry W, Minassian A, Feifel D (2004) Prepulse inhibition in patients with non-psychotic major depressive disorder. J Affect Disord 81:179–184

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phelps EA, Delgado MR, Nearing KI, LeDoux JE (2004) Extinction learning in humans: role of the amygdala and vmPFC. Neuron 43:897–905

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pissiota A, Frans O, Michelgard A, Appel L, Langstrom B, Flaten MA, Fredrikson M (2003) Amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex activation during affective startle modulation: a PET study of fear. Eur J Neurosci 18:1325–1331

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pole N (2006) Moderators of PTSD-related psychophysiological effect sizes. Results from a meta-analysis. Ann NY Acad Sci 1071:422–424

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pole N, Neylan TC, Otte C, Henn-Hasse C, Metzler TJ, Marmar CR (2008) Prospective prediction of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms using fear potentiated auditory startle responses. Biol Psychiatry 65:235–240 Corrected proof doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.07.015

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quednow BB, Westheide J, Kuhn K-U, Werner P, Maier W, Hawellek B, Wagner M (2006) Normal prepulse inhibition and habituation of acoustic startle response in suicidal depressive patients without psychotic symptoms. J Affect Disord 92:299–303 Corrected proof

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radant A, Tsuang D, Peskind ER, McFall M, Raskind W (2001) Biological markers and diagnostic accuracy in the genetics of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Res 102:203–215

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ressler KJ, Rothbaum BO, Tannenbaum L, Anderson P, Graap K, Zimand E, Hodges L, Davis M (2004) Cognitive enhancers as adjuncts to psychotherapy: use of D-cycloserine in phobic individuals to facilitate extinction of fear. Arch Gen Psychiatry 61:1136–1144

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riba J, Rodríguez-Fornells A, Urbano G, Morte A, Antonijoan R, Barbanoj M (2001) Differential effects of alprazolam on the baseline and fear-potentiated startle reflex in humans: a dose-response study. Psychopharmacology 157:358

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Risbrough VB, Brodkin JD, Geyer MA (2003) GABA-A and 5-HT1A receptor agonists block expression of fear-potentiated startle in mice. Neuropsychopharmacology 28:654–663

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Risbrough VB, Stein MB (2006) Role of corticotropin releasing factor in anxiety disorders: a translational research perspective. Horm Behav 50:550–561

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbaum BO, Davis M (2003) Applying learning principles to the treatment of post-trauma reactions. Ann NY Acad Sci 1008:112–121

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rothe C, Koszycki D, Bradwejn J, King N, Deluca V, Tharmalingam S, Macciardi F, Deckert J, Kennedy JL (2006) Association of the Val158Met catechol o-methyltransferase genetic polymorphism with panic disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 31:2237

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sartory G, MacDonald R, Gray JA (1990) Effects of diazepam on approach, self-reported fear and psychophysiological responses in snake phobics. Behav Res Ther 28:273

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scaife JC, Langley RW, Bradshaw CM, Szabadi E (2005) Diazepam suppresses the acquisition but not the expression of ‘fear-potentiation’ of the acoustic startle response in man. J Psychopharmacol 19:347–356

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shalev AY, Peri T, Brandes D, Freedman S, Orr SP, Pitman RK (2000) Auditory startle response in trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder: a prospective study. Am J Psychiatry 157:255–261

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith JC, Bradley MM, Lang PJ (2005) State anxiety and affective physiology: effects of sustained exposure to affective pictures. Biol Psychol 69:247

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Springer US, Rosas A, McGetrick J, Bowers D (2007) Differences in startle reactivity during the perception of angry and fearful faces. Emotion 7:516–525

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stein MB, Fallin MD, Schork NJ, Gelernter J (2005) COMT polymorphisms and anxiety-related personality traits. Neuropsychopharmacology 30:2092–2102

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tschirch F, Göpfert K, Fröhlich J, Brunner G, Weishaupt D (2007) Low-dose intranasal versus oral midazolam for routine body MRI of claustrophobic patients. Eur Radiol 17:1403

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tunbridge EM, Harrison PJ, Weinberger DR (2006) Catechol-o-methyltransferase, cognition, and psychosis: Val158Met and beyond. Biol Psychiatry 60:141–151

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turner SM, Michelson L (1984) Conceptual, methodological, and clinical issues in the assessment of anxiety disorders. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 6:265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vansteenwegen D, Crombez G, Baeyens F, Eelen P (1998) Extinction in fear conditioning: effects on startle modulation and evaluative self-reports. Psychophysiology 35:729–736

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verster JC, Volkerts ER (2004) Clinical pharmacology, clinical efficacy, and behavioral toxicity of alprazolam: a review of the literature. CNS Drug Rev 10:45–76

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wager TD, Phan KL, Liberzon I, Taylor SF (2003) Valence, gender, and lateralization of functional brain anatomy in emotion: a meta-analysis of findings from neuroimaging. NeuroImage 19:513

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walker DL, Davis M (2002) The role of amygdala glutamate receptors in fear learning, fear-potentiated startle, and extinction. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 71:379–392 JID-0367050

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weike AI, Hamm AO, Schupp HT, Runge U, Schroeder HWS, Kessler C (2005) Fear conditioning following unilateral temporal lobectomy: dissociation of conditioned startle potentiation and autonomic learning. J Neurosci 25:11117–11124

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wendt J, Lotze M, Weike AI, Hosten N, Hamm AO (2008) Brain activation and defensive response mobilization during sustained exposure to phobia-related and other affective pictures in spider phobia. Psychophysiology 45:205–215

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead WE, Blackwell B, Robinson A (1978) Effects of diazepam on phobic avoidance behavior and phobic anxiety. Biol Psychiatry 13:59–64

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins DE, Hallett M, Wess MM (1986) Audiogenic startle reflex of man and its relationship to startle syndromes: a review. Brain 109:561–573

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winslow JT, Noble PL, Davis M (2007) Modulation of fear-potentiated startle and vocalizations in juvenile rhesus monkeys by morphine, diazepam, and buspirone. Biol Psychiatry 61:389–395

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winslow JT, Noble PL, Davis M (2008) AX+/BX- discrimination learning in the fear-potentiated startle paradigm in monkeys. Learn Mem 15:63–66

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wray NR, James MR, Dumenil T, Handoko HY, Lind PA, Montgomery GW, Martin NG (2008) Association study of candidate variants of COMT with neuroticism, anxiety and depression. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 147B:1314–1318

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yeomans JS, Li L, Scott BW, Frankland PW (2002) Tactile, acoustic and vestibular systems sum to elicit the startle reflex. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 26:1–11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Young JW, Minassian A, Paulus MP, Geyer MA, Perry W (2007) A reverse-translational approach to bipolar disorder: rodent and human studies in the behavioral pattern monitor. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 31:882–896

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zvolensky MJ, Schmidt NB, Bernstein A, Keough ME (2006) Risk-factor research and prevention programs for anxiety disorders: a translational research framework. Behav Res Ther 44:1219

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Support was provided by the National Institute of Health grant MH074697 and the Veterans Affair’s Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC0804, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA

    Victoria Risbrough

Authors
  1. Victoria Risbrough
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victoria Risbrough .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, Gilman Drive 9500, La Jolla, 92093-0985, USA

    Murray B. Stein

  2. Research & Development, CNS - Affective Spectrum, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical, Turnhoutseweg 30, Beerse, 2340, Belgium

    Thomas Steckler

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Risbrough, V. (2009). Behavioral Correlates of Anxiety. In: Stein, M., Steckler, T. (eds) Behavioral Neurobiology of Anxiety and Its Treatment. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2009_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation