Cited by 72Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesVisual Attention and Saliency Detection

Attentional threat biases and their role in anxiety: A neurophysiological perspective

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Wieser, Matthias J., Keil, Andreas·2020·International Journal of Psychophysiology

Abstract

One of the most important function of selective attention is the efficient and accurate detection and identification of cues associated with threat. However, in pathological anxiety, this attentional mechanism seems to be dysfunctional, which leads to an exaggeration of threat processing and significant functional impairment. This attentional threat bias (ATB) has been proposed as a key mechanism in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Recently, evidence has accumulated that the behavioral assessment of ATB by means of reaction times is compromised by conceptual and methodological problems. In this review paper we argue that a brain-based assessment of ATB, which includes different mechanistic aspects of biased attention, may provide neuromechanistic knowledge regarding the etiology and maintenance of anxiety, and potentially start identifying different targets for effective treatment. We summarize examples for such an approach, highlighting the strengths of electrophysiological measurements, which include the sensitivity to time dynamics, specificity to specific neurocomputational mechanisms, and the continuous/dimensional nature of the resulting variables. These desirable properties are a prerequisite for developing trans-diagnostic biomarkers of attentional bias, and hence may inform individually tailored treatment approaches.

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  1. McTeague, L.M., Laplante, M.-C., Bulls, H.W., Shumen, J.R., Lang, P.J., Keil, A., 2018. Face perception in social anxiety: visuocortical dynamics reveal propensities for hypervigilance or avoidance. Biol. Psychiatry 83, 618-628. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.biopsych.2017.10.004. · DOI

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Authors
Wieser, M. J., & Keil, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Würzburg (DE)
  • University of Florida (US)
Corresponding author
Wieser, Matthias J.
Venue
International Journal of Psychophysiology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-07
Volume
153
Pages
148-158
ISSN
0167-8760 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3025890211
Cited by
72
References
186
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4
FWCI
8.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • International Journal of Psychophysiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • RePub (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB/TRR-58, R01MH112558)
  • Office of Naval Research (N00014-18-1-2306)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH112558)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
Keywords
anxiety disorders, threat processing, selective attention, electrophysiological measures, attentional bias, treatment goals
MeSH terms
Attentional Bias, Anxiety Disorders, Electroencephalography, Evoked Potentials, Fear, Humans

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