Journal
NEUROREPORT
Volume 19, Issue 3, Pages 259-263Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e3282f53d2a
Keywords
angry facial expressions; emotion; N2pc; selective attentional bias; spatial orienting; trait anxiety
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We investigated the electrophysiological markers of attentional bias for threat in anxiety. Low-anxiety and high-anxiety individuals performed a spatial-cueing task, in which an emotional facial expression (angry or happy) was presented alongside a neutral expression. Results revealed that angry expressions elicited an enhanced N2pc component, but that this was true only for those reporting high levels of trait anxiety. These results confirm the early capture of spatial attention by threat-related stimuli, and demonstrate that this early bias is modulated by trait anxiety. Enhanced PI amplitudes to targets after presentations of angry expressions were also found; however, this effect was not modulated by trait anxiety levels. Our findings indicate that individual differences in temperament are an important determinant of the early neural response to threat.
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