Patterns and mediators of emotion regulatory disturbance in panic disorder

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议培训计划的目标是进一步发展申请人在心理生理学，认知和情感科学以及实验精神病理学领域的知识和研究技能。最终，本奖学金提供的培训经验将极大地促进申请人在情绪障碍的生理和认知机制方面进行高质量的研究，并基于这些机制开发新的预防和治疗干预措施。本研究的主要目的是利用心理生理学方法研究恐慌障碍（PD）患者的情绪调节（ER）障碍，并探讨这种障碍可能的认知机制。拟议的培训计划还包括认知科学和统计学课程；定期与保荐人会面；赞助商和顾问指导的阅读；临床实践;以及专业发展活动。拟开展的研究将通过提供心理生理学和认知方法、临床样本招募和筛选、数据分析和解释等方面的应用经验来补充本培训计划。选择这个特殊的研究课题不仅是因为它与申请人的职业目标和先前的经验非常吻合，而且因为焦虑症是一个非常普遍和致残的公共卫生问题。更好地理解为什么有些人难以调节焦虑，将对干预措施的发展产生直接影响。与此相一致，“监管系统”是NIMH最近的研究领域标准（RDoC）倡议的一个拟议领域。先前在这一领域的研究受到依赖内质网能力的自我报告测量和对可能介质的不频繁调查的限制。因此，本研究的目的1是评估PD患者相对于对照组，在面对不可预知威胁（休克）时，能够自主调节（即减少或增加）情绪生理指标的程度。目的2是评估PD个体与对照组的努力控制能力（情绪调节缺陷的潜在机制），以及在威胁环境中努力控制被破坏的程度。然后，我们将评估努力控制（无论是在威胁期间还是在基线时）是否介导了内质反应能力的组间差异。数据将从

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed training plan is to further develop the applicant's knowledge and research skills in the areas of psychophysiology, cognitive and affective science, and experimental psychopathology. Ultimately, the training experiences provided by this fellowship will greatly promote the applicant's goals to conduct high- quality research on physiological and cognitive mechanisms of emotional disorders and develop novel preventative and treatment interventions based on these mechanisms. The primary proposed training experience is a research project that will use psychophysiological measures to investigate emotion regulatory (ER) disturbance in Panic Disorder (PD) and examine possible cognitive mechanisms of this disturbance. The proposed training plan also includes coursework in cognitive science and statistics; regular meetings with sponsors; sponsor- and consultant-guided readings; clinical practical; and professional development activities. The proposed research will complement this training plan by providing applied experience with psychophysiological and cognitive methodology, clinical sample recruitment and screening, and data analysis and interpretation. This particular research topic was chosen not only because it fits well with the applicant's career goals and prior experience, but also because anxiety disorders are a highly prevalent and disabling public health problem. A better understanding of why some individuals have difficulty regulating anxiety would have direct implications for intervention development. Consistent with this, "regulatory systems" is a proposed domain for the NIMH's recent Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative. Previous research in this area has been limited by a reliance on self-report measures of ER ability and infrequent investigation of possible mediators. Therefore, Aim 1 of the proposed study is to assess the degree to which individuals with PD, relative to controls, can voluntarily regulate (i.e, decrease and increase) physiological indicators of emotional responding to unpredictable threat (of shock). Aim 2 is to assess effortful control ability (a potential mechanism of emotion regulatory deficits) among PD individuals vs. controls, as well as the degree to which effortful control is disrupted in a threatening context. We will then assess whether effortful control (eithe during threat or at baseline) mediates group differences in ER ability. Data will be collected from 45 individuals with current PD and 45 healthy controls. Mentorship for this project will be provided by experts in the areas of psychophysiology and threat processing in PD (Dr. Stewart Shankman), cognition and cognitive bases of emotional disorders (Drs. Scott Langenecker and Ian Gotlib), and experimental psychopathology (Drs. Shankman, Langenecker, and Gotlib). This study will be the first to assess objective indices of ER ability in individuals with PD, as well a the first to relate cognitive performance to ER in this population. Thus, the proposed fellowship will be instrumental in propelling the applicant's career and promises to yield results directly applicable to the development of new interventions for anxiety disorders.