Less is more: Neural activity during very brief and clearly visible exposure to phobic stimuli.
Less is more: Neural activity during very brief and clearly visible exposure to phobic stimuli.
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DOI：
10.1002/hbm.23533
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发表时间：
2017-05
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
Peterson BS
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Siegel P;Warren R;Wang Z;Yang J;Cohen D;Anderson JF;Murray L;Peterson BS
对情绪中自动过程的研究几乎完全集中在恐惧反应的激发上。相反，我们已经证明，重复呈现蒙面恐惧图像会减少蜘蛛恐惧症参与者对活狼蛛的回避。我们研究了掩蔽暴露的这些适应性效应的神经基础。我们使用精神病学访谈、恐惧问卷和接近活狼蛛的行为，确定了21名蜘蛛恐惧症参与者和21名对照参与者。他们接受三种条件中的每一种：(1)非常短暂地暴露(VBE)蜘蛛的蒙面图像；(2)清晰可见的蜘蛛暴露(CVE)；以及(3)蒙面的花朵图像(对照)。在皮层下的恐惧、注意力、高级语言和视觉系统中，只有蒙面蜘蛛的VBE在恐惧症患者中产生的神经活动比对照组参与者更强烈。与直觉相反的是，对相同蜘蛛的CVE产生了更强的控制神经活动，而不是这些和其他系统中的恐惧症参与者。VBE激活了恐惧症参与者中支持恐惧处理的区域，而不会导致他们有意识地体验恐惧。相比之下，CVE使支持恐惧调节的区域失活，并导致恐惧症参与者体验恐惧。CVE对蜘蛛的激活与恐惧等级相关--明确的恐惧。VBE对蒙面蜘蛛的激活与蜘蛛词的颜色命名干扰--隐性恐惧--相关。VBE和CVE对蜘蛛的影响之间的多重分离表明，通过视觉掩蔽来限制暴露于恐惧性刺激的意识自相矛盾地促进了它们的处理，同时将恐惧体验降至最低。
Research on automatic processes in emotion has focused almost exclusively on the provocation of fear responses. We have shown, in contrast, that the repeated presentation of masked feared images reduces avoidance of a live tarantula by spider-phobic participants. We investigated the neural basis for these adaptive effects of masked exposure. We identified 21 spider-phobic and 21 control participants using a psychiatric interview, fear questionnaire, and approach behavior towards a live tarantula. They received each of three conditions: (1) very brief exposure (VBE) to masked images of spiders; (2) clearly visible exposure (CVE) to spiders; and (3) masked images of flowers (control). Only VBE to masked spiders generated neural activity more strongly in phobic than in control participants, within subcortical fear, attention, higher-order language, and vision systems. Counter-intuitively, CVE to the same spiders generated stronger neural activity in control rather than phobic participants within these and other systems. VBE activated regions that support fear processing in phobic participants without causing them to experience fear consciously. CVE, by contrast, deactivated regions supporting fear regulation and caused phobic participants to experience fear. Activations by CVE to spiders correlated with fear ratings - explicit fear. Activations by VBE to masked spiders correlated with color-naming interference of spider words – implicit fear. These multiple dissociations between the effects of VBE and CVE to spiders suggest that limiting awareness of exposure to phobic stimuli through visual masking paradoxically facilitates their processing, while simultaneously minimizing the experience of fear.