Topography of the Anxious Self: Abnormal Rest-Task Modulation in Social Anxiety Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 107385842110304
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Lucherini Angeletti ◽  
Andrea Scalabrini ◽  
Valdo Ricca ◽  
Georg Northoff
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Social Self ◽  
Unspecific Symptom ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Increased Activity ◽  
State Feature ◽  
And Task

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by social anxiety/fear, self-attention, and interoception. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies demonstrate increased activity during symptom-sensitive tasks in regions of the default-mode network (DMN), amygdala (AMG), and salience network (SN). What is the source of this task-unspecific symptom-sensitive hyperactivity in DMN? We address this question by probing SAD resting state (rs) changes in DMN including their relation to other regions as possible source of task-unspecific hyperactivity in the same regions. Our findings show the following: (1) rs-hypoconnectivity within-DMN regions; (2) rs-hyperconnectivity between DMN and AMG/SN; (3) task-evoked hyperactivity in the abnormal rs-regions of DMN and AMG/SN during different symptom-sensitive tasks; (4) negative relationship of rest and task changes in especially anterior DMN regions as their rs-hypoconnectivity is accompanied by task-unspecific hyperactivity; (5) abnormal top-down/bottom-up modulation between anterior DMN regions and AMG during rest and task. Findings demonstrate that rs-hypoconnectivity among DMN regions is negatively related to task-unspecific hyperactivity in DMN and AMG/SN. We propose a model of “Topography of the Anxious Self” in SAD (TAS-SAD). Abnormal DMN-AMG/SN topography during rest, as trait feature of an “unstable social self”, is abnormally aggravated during SAD-sensitive situations resulting in task-related hyperactivity in the same regions with an “anxious self” as state feature.

scholarly journals Mindfulness Meditation Training and Self-Referential Processing in Social Anxiety Disorder: Behavioral and Neural Effects

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Goldin ◽  
Wiveka Ramel ◽  
James Gross
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Social Self ◽  
Attention Regulation ◽  
Referential Processing ◽  
Brain Behavior

This study examined the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on the brain–behavior mechanisms of self-referential processing in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Sixteen patients underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while encoding self-referential, valence, and orthographic features of social trait adjectives. Post-MBSR, 14 patients completed neuroimaging. Compared to baseline, MBSR completers showed (a) increased self-esteem and decreased anxiety, (b) increased positive and decreased negative self-endorsement, (c) increased activity in a brain network related to attention regulation, and (d) reduced activity in brain systems implicated in conceptual-linguistic self-view. MBSR-related changes in maladaptive or distorted social self-view in adults diagnosed with SAD may be related to modulation of conceptual self-processing and attention regulation. Self-referential processing may serve as a functional biobehavioral target to measure the effects of mindfulness training.

scholarly journals Bridging Maladaptive Social Self-Beliefs and Social Anxiety: A Network Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Heeren ◽  
Emily Bernstein ◽  
Richard J. McNally
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Gaussian Model ◽  
Network Models ◽  
High Standard ◽  
Social Self ◽  
Functional Relations ◽  
Network Approaches

The Clark and Wells (1995) model of social anxiety disorder postulates that three types of maladaptive social self-beliefs (high standard, conditional, and unconditional beliefs) play a crucial role in the development of fear and avoidance of social-evaluative situations—i.e., the hallmark symptoms of social anxiety disorder. In this project, we examined associations between the three types of maladaptive social self-beliefs and fear and avoidance of social-evaluative situations in a nonclinical community sample (n = 389). We used network analysis to estimate functional relations among aspects of maladaptive self-beliefs, fear, and avoidance and computed two different network models, a graphical Gaussian model (GGM) and a directed acyclic graph (DAG). Each model estimates edges and the importance of nodes in different ways. Both GGM and DAG pointed to fear and conditional beliefs as especially potent bridges between maladaptive social self-beliefs and social anxiety in our nonclinical sample. Altogether, these results offer data-driven heuristics in the field’s larger, ongoing effort to illuminate pathways at play in the development of social anxiety. We situate this study within novel network approaches for developing theory-driven models and tests of the instigation and interactions of maladaptive social self-beliefs and social anxiety. However, because this is the first study to combine GGM and DAG in social anxiety research, we also discussed the caveats to this approach to help to usher the field forward.

The Predictive Influence of Peer Pressure and School Environment on Social Anxiety Disorder Among Adolescents

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-40
Author(s):  
Isha Kapoor ◽  
Shaveta Sharma ◽  
Mohua Khosla
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Anxiety Disorder ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Peer Pressure ◽  
Significant Negative Relationship ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pressure Scale

Social anxiety disorder is the most prevalent and chronic type of anxiety disorder worldwide. It affects the educational and social affairs of adolescents. Adolescents spend a lot of time in school, necessitating a considerable amount of social interaction with peer group and teachers. The present study attempts to find the predictive influence of peer pressure and school environment on social anxiety disorder among adolescents. Data was collected from 500 adolescents studying in government and self-financed schools in Punjab. The sample was drawn from ten randomly selected districts of Punjab state. The data was collected using the social anxiety disorder scale by Nagpal (2018), the Peer pressure scale by Singh and Saini (2010) and the School environment scale by Misra (2012). The findings reveal that social anxiety disorder is negatively related to peer pressure. A significant negative relationship exists between social anxiety disorder and the school environment. It is apparent from the regression model summary that the conjoint effect of peer pressure and school environment on social anxiety disorder among adolescents is higher than their individual effects. It implies that peer pressure and school environment would contribute towards predicting social anxiety disorder both independently and conjointly.

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