Reducing Amygdala Activity and Phobic Fear through Cognitive Top–Down Regulation

The amygdala is critically involved in emotional processing, including fear responses, and shows hyperactivity in anxiety disorders. Previous research in healthy participants has indicated that amygdala activity is down-regulated by cognitively demanding tasks that engage the PFC. It is unknown, however, if such an acute down-regulation of amygdala activity might correlate with reduced fear in anxious participants. In an fMRI study of 43 participants (11 men) with fear of snakes, we found reduced amygdala activity when visual stimuli were processed under high cognitive load, irrespective of whether the stimuli were of neutral or phobic content. Furthermore, dynamic causal modeling revealed that this general reduction in amygdala activity was partially mediated by a load-dependent increase in dorsolateral PFC activity. Importantly, high cognitive load also resulted in an acute decrease in perceived phobic fear while viewing the fearful stimuli. In conclusion, our data indicate that a cognitively demanding task results in a top–down regulation of amygdala activity and an acute reduction of fear in phobic participants. These findings may inspire the development of novel psychological intervention approaches aimed at reducing fear in anxiety disorders.

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Emotional processing in panic disorder and its subtypes: an fMRI study using emotional faces

Journal of Affective Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.jad.2021.03.069 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

T. Pattyn ◽

L. Schmaal ◽

F. Van Den Eede ◽

L. Cassiers ◽

BW Penninx ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Panic Disorder ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Emotional Faces ◽

Fmri Study

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The importance of constructive feedback: Implications of top-down regulation in the development of neural circuits

Neurogenesis ◽

10.1080/23262133.2017.1287553 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. e1287553

Author(s):

Andrew D. Thompson ◽

Chinfei Chen

Keyword(s):

Neural Circuits ◽

Top Down ◽

Down Regulation ◽

Constructive Feedback

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Acute Effects of Heroin on Negative Emotional Processing: Relation of Amygdala Activity and Stress-Related Responses

Biological Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.10.019 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 76 (4) ◽

pp. 289-296 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

André Schmidt ◽

Stefan Borgwardt ◽

Hana Gerber ◽

Gerhard A. Wiesbeck ◽

Otto Schmid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotional Processing ◽

Acute Effects ◽

Amygdala Activity

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Neural Dysfunction in Postpartum Depression: An fMRI Pilot Study

CNS Spectrums ◽

10.1017/s1092852900015595 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 853-862 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Michael E. Silverman ◽

Holly Loudon ◽

Michal Safier ◽

Xenia Protopopescu ◽

Gila Leiter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Postpartum Depression ◽

Postpartum Period ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

The United States ◽

Depressive Illness ◽

Critical Gap ◽

Amygdala Activity ◽

Clinically Significant ◽

And Behavior ◽

Striatal Function

ABSTRACTIntroduction:With ∼4 million births each year in the United States, an estimated 760,000 women annually suffer from a clinically significant postpartum depressive illness. Yet even though the relationship between psychiatric disorders and the postpartum period has been documented since the time of Hippocrates, fewer than half of all these cases are recognized.Objective:Because postpartum depression (PPD), the most common complication of childbearing, remains poorly characterized, and its etiology remains unclear, we attempted to address a critical gap in the mechanistic understanding of PPD by probing its systems-level neuropathophysiology, in the context of a specific neurobiological model of fronto-limbic-striatal function.Methods:Using emotionally valenced word probes, with linguistic semantic specificity within an integrated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol, we investigated emotional processing, behavioral regulation, and their interaction (functions of clinical relevance to PPD), in the context of fronto-limbic-striatal function.Results:We observed attenuated activity in posterior orbitofrontal cortex for negative versus neutral stimuli with greater PPD symptomatology, increased amygdala activity in response to negative words in those without PPD symptomotology, and attenuated striatum activation to positive word conditions with greater PPD symptomotology.Conclusion:Identifying the functional neuroanatomical profile of brain systems involved in the regulation of emotion and behavior in the postpartum period will not only assist in determining whether the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition psychiatric diagnostic specifier of PPD has an associated, unique, functional neuroanatomical profile, but a neurobiological characterization in relation to asymptomatic (postpartum nondepressed) control subjects, will also increase our understanding of the affective disorder spectrum, shed additional light on the possible mechanism(s) responsible for PPD and provide a necessary foundation for the development of more targeted, biologically based diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for PPD.

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The effects of reboxetine on emotional processing in healthy volunteers: an fMRI study

Molecular Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/sj.mp.4002091 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 1011-1020 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

R Norbury ◽

C E Mackay ◽

P J Cowen ◽

G M Goodwin ◽

C J Harmer

Keyword(s):

Healthy Volunteers ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Fmri Study

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Altered default mode network activity in patient with anxiety disorders: An fMRI study

European Journal of Radiology ◽

10.1016/j.ejrad.2007.02.006 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 63 (3) ◽

pp. 373-378 ◽

Cited By ~ 121

Author(s):

Xiao-Hu Zhao ◽

Pei-Jun Wang ◽

Chun-Bo Li ◽

Zheng-Hui Hu ◽

Qian Xi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Default Mode Network ◽

Network Activity ◽

Default Mode ◽

Fmri Study

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Kognitive Kontrolle der Aufmerksamkeitsintensität:

Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1026/0044-3409.212.2.107 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 212 (2) ◽

pp. 107-114

Author(s):

Walter Sturm

Keyword(s):

Top Down ◽

Down Regulation

Zusammenfassung. Netzwerke zur kognitiven Kontrolle der Aufmerksamkeitsintensität regeln sowohl kurzfristig das Aktivierungs-(Alertness-)Niveau als auch die längerfristige Aufrechterhaltung dieses Aktivierungszustandes selbst in sehr monotonen Aufgabensituationen (Vigilanz). Funktionelle PET- oder fMRI-Bildgebungsstudien haben ein überwiegend rechtshemispärisches kortiko-subkortikales Netzwerk zur “top down“ Regulation der Aufmerksamkeitsintensität ergeben, welches sowohl die “intrinsische“ Alertness als auch die längerfristige Aufrechterhaltung der Aufmerksamkeit kontrolliert. Beteiligt sind sowohl der anteriore cinguläre als auch der dorsolaterale präfrontale und der inferiore parietale Kortex, welche über thalamische Kerne die vom Hirnstamm kommende Aktivierung regeln und “kanalisieren“. Diese Netzwerke scheinen supramodal zu sein und wurden bisher für visuelle und auditive sowie ansatzweise auch für somatosensorische Stimuli nachgewiesen. Die Regelung der Aufmerksamkeitsintensität ist auch Voraussetzung für eine energetische Versorgung komplexerer Aufmerksamkeitsleistungen wie Selektivität, räumliche Ausrichtung der Aufmerksamkeit und die Fähigkeit zur Aufmerksamkeitsteilung.

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