Anticipatory anxiety is a complex combination of a future-oriented cognitive state, negative affect, and autonomic arousal. A dual-task paradigm of anticipation of electric shocks and a motor-learning task was used to examine the changes in neural patterns of activation associated with modulation of the cognitive state in anxiety by a distracting motor task. We used positron emission tomography...

Stress response biologic systems are altered in alcohol-dependent individuals. Early life stress (ELS) is associated with a heightened risk of alcohol dependence, presumably because of stress-induced neuroplastic changes. This study was designed to assess the contribution of ELS to a stress-induced neural response in alcohol-dependent participants. Fifteen alcohol-dependent men abstinent for 3-...

The present study examined the effects of anticipatory anxiety on the affective modulation of the eyeblink startle reflex. Towards this end, pleasant, neutral and unpleasant pictures were presented as a continuous stream during alternating threat-ofshock and safety periods, which were cued by colored picture frames. Orbicularis EMG to auditory startle probes and electrodermal activity were reco...

Regional cerebral blood flow (BF) was examined in the human medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) with positron emission tomography during anticipatory anxiety. Transient anxiety was induced in normal subjects by having them anticipate a painful shock to the fingers of one hand. BF was decreased during anticipatory anxiety, relative to an eyes-closed resting condition, in two regions of the MPFC (Bro...

Stimulus novelty or deviance may be especially salient in anxiety-related states due to sensitization to environmental change, a key symptom of anxiety disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We aimed to identify human brain regions that show potentiated responses to stimulus deviance during anticipatory anxiety. Twenty participants (14 men) were presented a passive oddball audi...

BACKGROUND Neuroimaging research has traditionally explored fear and anxiety in response to discrete threat cues (e.g., during fear conditioning). However, anxiety is a sustained aversive state that can persist in the absence of discrete threats. Little is known about mechanisms that maintain anxiety states over a prolonged period. Here, we used a robust translational paradigm (threat of shock)...

The current report aimed to document individual differences that predict the trajectory of post-event rumination following an evaluative event. In this study, 127 undergraduate students were assessed over a 5-day period preceding and following a mid-term exam. Participants completed measures of anticipatory processing, trait test anxiety, trait tendency to ruminate, negative affect, and post-ev...

This study compares the anticipatory hormonal and psychological responses of 17 male judo players to an official competition with the data obtained during eight resting sessions carried out at the same time of day, throughout an entire sports season. Testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) levels were determined 1 h and 30 min before competition, and mood, anxiety and expectancies were also evaluated...

Secretion curves for prolactin, cortisol, TSH, and GH from a 37-year old woman with dysthymia and panic disorder with agoraphobia were determined one day prior to (day I), and during a panic attack (day II) associated with an oral dose of 60 mg dl-fenfluramine, a drug known to increase anticipatory anxiety. The increased cortisol secretion observed is discussed in relation to the hormonal corre...