Alcohol selectively reduces anxiety but not fear: Startle response during unpredictable versus predictable threat.
Open accessAbstract
Recent theory and empirical research have suggested that fear and anxiety are distinct processes with separable neurobiological substrates. Furthermore, a laboratory procedure has been developed to manipulate fear versus anxiety independently via administration of predictable or unpredictable electric shock, respectively. Benzodiazepines appear to selectively reduce anxiety but not fear in this procedure. The primary aim of this experiment was to determine if alcohol produced a similar selective reduction in anxiety. Intoxicated (target blood alcohol concentration of .08%) and nonintoxicated participants viewed a series of colored squares separated by variable intertrial intervals (ITIs) in 3 conditions. In the predictable shock condition, shocks were administered contingently during every square. In the unpredictable shock condition, shocks were administered noncontingently during both squares and ITIs. In the no-shock condition, no shocks were administered at any time. Alcohol significantly reduced startle potentiation during cues signaling unpredictable but not predictable shock, consistent with the thesis that alcohol selectively reduces anxiety but not fear. In addition, alcohol's effect on startle potentiation during unpredictable shock was mediated by vigilance. This anxiolytic effect may clarify the nature of alcohol's reinforcing effects in social and problem drinkers.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Laboratory studies show that alcohol selectively dampens stress responses to unpredictable threat.
“Laboratory studies show that alcohol selectively dampens stress responses to unpredictable threat (Moberg And Curtin 2009; Hefner And Curtin 2012; Bradford et al. 2013).”
From Decoding the bidirectional links between alcohol misuse and aggression: toward a unified translational framework (2026) · cites this paper as Moberg And Curtin 2009
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The amygdala: vigilance and emotion
Davis, M., & Whalen, P. J. (2001) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4000812 · Cited by 2,882 · see citing works
Addiction motivation reformulated: an affective processing model of negative reinforcement
Baker, T. B., Piper, M. E., McCarthy, D. E., Majeskie, M. R., & Fiore, M. C. (2004) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.111.1.33 · Cited by 2,162 · see citing works
Alcohol myopia: Its prized and dangerous effects.
Steele, C. M., & Josephs, R. A. (1990) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.45.8.921 · Cited by 2,070 · see citing works
Drinking to regulate positive and negative emotions: A motivational model of alcohol use
Cooper, M. L., Frone, M. R., Russell, M., & Mudar, P. (1995) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.990 · Cited by 1,975 · see citing works
An opponent-process theory of motivation. I. Temporal dynamics of affect
Solomon, R. L., & Corbit, J. D. (1974) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0036128 · Cited by 1,704 · see citing works
Fear‐Potentiated Startle in Humans: Effects of Anticipatory Anxiety on the Acoustic Blink Reflex
Grillon, C., AMELI, R., Woods, S. W., Merikangas, K., & Davis, M. (1991) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1991.tb01999.x · Cited by 462 · see citing works
Anxious Responses to Predictable and Unpredictable Aversive Events.
Grillon, C., Baas, J. P., Lissek, S., Smith, K., & Milstein, J. (2004) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/0735-7044.118.5.916 · Cited by 349 · see citing works
An appraisal-disruption model of alcohol’s effects on stress responses in social drinkers
Sayette, M. A. (1993) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.114.3.459 · Cited by 320 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Consideration of this distinction between fear and anxiety may also clarify the mechanism proposed by important cognitive models of the alcohol– emotion nexus (Sayette, 1993; Steele & Josephs, 1990).”
InfluentialAttack and defense in rodents as ethoexperimental models for the study of emotion
Blanchard, R. J., & Blanchard, D. C. (1989) · Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/0278-5846(89)90105-x · Cited by 296 · see citing works
Darkness facilitates the acoustic startle reflex in humans
Grillon, C., Pellowski, M., Merikangas, K. R., & Davis, M. (1997) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(96)00466-0 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Cerebral blood flow in immediate and sustained anxiety
Hasler, G., Fromm, S., Alvarez, R. P., Luckenbaugh, D. A., Drevets, W. C., & Grillon, C. (2007) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.5369-06.2007 · Cited by 163 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Moreover, vigilance is heightened, but attention is less focused on specific stimuli during anxiety than fear (Cornwell, Echiverri, Covington, & Grillon, 2008; Hasler et al., 2007).”
Benzodiazepines have no effect on fear-potentiated startle in humans
Baas, J., Grillon, C., Böcker, K., Brack, A., Morgan, C., Kenemans, L., & Verbaten, M. (2002) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-002-1011-8 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 52
- Anthony BJ Ackles PK Jennings JR Coles MGH In the blink of an eye: Implications of the reflex modification for information processing Advances in Psychophysiology 1985 Vol. 1 Greenwich, CT JAI Press 167 218
- Aston-Jones G Delfs JM Druhan J Zhu Y The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis: A target site for noradrenergic actions in opiate withdrawal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1999 877 486 498 10415666
- Baron RM Kenny DA The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1986 51 1173 1182 3806354
- Brown SA Vik PW Patterson TL Grant I Schuckit MA Stress, vulnerability, and adult alcohol relapse Journal of Studies on Alcohol 1995 56 538 545 7475034
- Chapman L Chapman J Problems in the measurement of cognitve deficit Psychological Bulletin 1973 79 380 385 4707457
- Christiansen BA Goldman MS Inn A Development of alcohol-related expectancies in adolescents: separating pharmacological from social-learning influences Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1982 50 3 336 344 7096736
- Cornwell BR Echiverri AM Covington MF Grillon C Modality-specific attention under imminent but not remote threat of shock Psychological Science 2008 19 6 615 622 18578853 PMC2680742
- Creamer M Burgess P McFarlane AC Post-traumatic stress disorder: findings from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being Psychological Medicine 2001 31 1237 1247 11681550
- Curtin JJ Fairchild BA Alcohol and cognitive control: Implications for regulation of behavior during response conflict Journal of Abnormal Psychology 2003 112 3 424 436 12943021
- Curtin JJ Lang AR Patrick CJ Stritzke WGK Alcohol and fear-potentiated startle: The role of competing cognitive demands in the stress-reducing effects of intoxication Journal of Abnormal Psychology 1998 107 4 547 565 9830242
- Curtin JJ Lang AR Patrick CJ Cacioppo JT Birbaumer N Alcohol affects emotion through cognition Psychological Science 2001 12 6 527 531 11760143
- Davis M Davis M Jacobs BL Schoenfeld RI Neural systems involved in fear-potentiated startle Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1989 563 2570545
- Davis M The role of the amygdala in fear and anxiety Annual Review of Neuroscience 1992 15 353 375 1575447
- Davis M Neural systems involved in fear and anxiety measured with fear-potentiated startle American Psychologist 2006 61 8 741 756 17115806
- Delfs JM Zhu Y Druhan JP Aston-Jones G Noradrenaline in the ventral forebrain is critical for opiate withdrawal-induced aversion Nature 2000 403 430 434 10667795
- Donohue KF Curtin JJ Patrick CJ Lang AR Intoxication Level and Emotional Response Emotion 2007 7 103 112 17352567
- Fanselow MS Neural organization of the defensive behavior system responsible for fear Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 1994 1 429 438 24203551
- Goldman MS Brown SA Christiansen BA Blane HT Leonard KE Expectancy theory: Thinking about drinking Psychological theories of drinking and alcoholism 1987 New York Guilford Press 181 226
- Grant BF Stinson FS Dawson DA Chou P Dufour MC Compton W Pickering RP Kaplan K Prevalence and co-occurrence of substance use disorders and independent mood and anxiety disorders Archives of General Psychiatry 2004 61 807 816 15289279
- Greeley J Oei T Leonard KE Blane HT Alcohol and tension reduction Psychological theories of drinking and alcoholism 1999 2nd ed New York Guilford Press 14 53
- Grillon C Models and mechanisms of anxiety: evidence from startle studies Psychopharmacology 2008 199 421 437 18058089 PMC2711770
- Grillon C Avenevoli S Daurignac E Merikangas KR Fear-potentiated startle to threat, and prepulse inhibition among young adult nonsmokers, abstinent smokers, and nonabstinent smokers Biological Psychiatry 2007a 62 1155 1161 17543892 PMC2111055
- Grillon C Duncko R Covington MF Kopperman L Kling MA Acute stress potentiates anxiety in humans Biological Psychiatry 2007b 62 1183 1186 17692829 PMC2093988
- Grillon C Baas JMP Pine DS Lissek S Lawley M Ellis V Levine J The benzodiazepine alprazolam dissociates contextual fear from cued fear in humans as assessed by fear-potentiated startle Biological Psychiatry 2006 60 760 766 16631127
- Grillon C Davis M Fear-potentiated startle conditioning in humans: Explicit and contextual cue conditioning following paired versus unpaired training Psychophysiology 1997 34 451 458 9260498
- Hogle JM Curtin JJ Sex differences in negative affective response during nicotine withdrawal Psychophysiology 2006 43 344 356 16916430
- Hogle JM Curtin JJ Kaye JT Negative affect during nicotine withdrawal: insights from explicit-cue and contextual fear conditioning models Nicotine and Tobacco Research 10 (in press).
- Hurlbut SC Sher KJ Assessing alcohol problems in college students Journal of American College Health 1992 41 2 49 58 1460173
- Kessler RC Sonnega A Bromet E Hughes M Nelson CB Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Archives of General Psychiatry 1995 52 1048 1060 7492257
- Koob GF LeMoal M Drug addiction, dysregulation of reward, and allostasis Neuropsychopharmacology 2001 24 2 97 129 11120394
- Kushner MG Sher KJ Beitman BD The relation between alcohol problems and the anxiety disorders American Journal of Psychiatry 1990 147 6 685 695 2188513
- Lê AD Quan B Juzytch W Fletcher PJ Joharchi N Shaham Y Reinstatement of alcohol-seeking by priming injections of alcohol and exposure to stress in rats Psychopharmacology 1998 135 169 174 9497022
- Liang KC Melia KR Miserendino MJ Falls WA Campeau S Davis M Corticotropin-releasing factor: long-lasting facilitation of the acoustic startle reflex Journal of Neuroscience 1992 12 2303 2312 1351540 PMC6575911
- McGue M Leonard KE Blane HT Behavioral Genetic Models of Alcoholism and Drinking Psychological theories of drinking and alcoholism 2nd ed New York Guilford Press 372 421
- Melia KR Ryabinin AE Corodimas KP Wilson M LeDoux JE Hippocampal-dependent learning and experience-dependent activation of the hippocampus are preferentially disrupted by ethanol Neuroscience 1996 74 313 322 8865184
- Miller GA Chapman JP Misunderstanding analysis of covariance Journal of Abnormal Psychology 2001 110 1 40 48 11261398
- Mol N Baas JMP Grillon C van Ooijen L Kenemans JL Startle potentiation in rapidly alternating conditions of high and low predictability of threat Biological Psychiatry 2007 76 43 51 17644240
- Piper ME Curtin JJ Tobacco withdrawal and negative affect: An analysis of initial emotional response intensity and voluntary emotion regulation Journal of Abnormal Psychology 2006 115 1 96 102 16492100
- Schroder KE Perrine MW Covariations of emotional states and alcohol consumption: evidence from 2 years of daily data collection Social Science & Medicine 2007 65 12 2588 2602 17761376 PMC2777711
- Shaham Y Erb S Stewart J Stress-induced relapse to heroin and cocaine seeking in rats: a review Brain Research Reviews 2000 33 13 33 10967352
- Sher KJ Bartholow BD Peuser K Erickson DJ Wood MD Stress-Response-Dampening Effects of Alcohol: Attention as a Mediator and Moderator Journal of Abnormal Psychology 2007 116 362 377 17516768 PMC2679524
- Sher KJ Blane HT Leonard KE Stress response dampening Psychological Theories of Drinking and Alcoholism 1987 New York Guilford Press 227 271
- Sher KJ Walitzer KS Individual differences in the stress-response dampening effect of alcohol: A dose-response study Journal of Abnormal Psychology 1986 95 159 167 3711440
- Sullivan GM Apergis J Bush DEA Johnson LR Hou M LeDoux JE Lesions in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis disrupt corticosterone and freezing response elicited by a contextual but not by a specific cue-conditioned fear stimulus Neuroscience 2004 128 7 14 15450349
- Swerdlow NR Geyer MA Vale WW Koob GF Corticotropin-releasing factor potentiates acoustic startle in rats: Blockade by chlordiazepoxide Psychopharmacology 1986 88 2 147 152 3081925
- Van Boxtel A Boelhouwer AJW Bos AR Optimal EMG signal bandwidth and interelectrode distance for the recording of acoustic, electrocutaneous, and photic blink reflexes Psychophysiology 1998 35 690 697 9844430
- Walker DL Davis M Anxiogenic effects of high illumination levels assessed with the acoustic startle response in rats Biological Psychiatry 1997a 42 461 471 9285082
- Walker DL Davis M Double dissociation between the involvement of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the central nucleus of the amygdala in startle increases produced by conditioned versus unconditioned fear Journal of Neuroscience 1997b 17 9375 9383 9364083 PMC6573581
- Walker DL Davis M Role of the extended amygdala in short-duration versus sustained fear: a tribute to Dr. Lennart Heimer Brain Structure & Function 2008 213 29 42 18528706
- Walker DL Toufexis DJ Davis M Role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis versus amygdala in fear, stress, and anxiety European Journal of Pharmacology 2003 463 199 216 12600711
- Zvolensky MJ Eifert GH Lejuez CW McNeil DW The effects of offset control over 20% carbon-dioxide-enriched air on anxious responding Journal of Abnormal Psychology 1999 108 4 624 632 10609427
- Zvolensky M Lejuez C Eifert G Prediction and control: operational definitions for the experimental analysis of anxiety Behaviour Research and Therapy 2000 38 653 663 10875188
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Schmitz, A., & Grillon, C. (2012) · Nature Protocols · doi:10.1038/nprot.2012.001 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Stress Potentiates Early and Attenuates Late Stages of Visual Processing
Shackman, A. J., Maxwell, J. S., McMenamin, B. W., Greischar, L. L., & Davidson, R. J. (2011) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3384-10.2011 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
The translational neural circuitry of anxiety
Robinson, O. J., Pike, A. C., Cornwell, B., & Grillon, C. (2019) · Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry · doi:10.1136/jnnp-2019-321400 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Does intolerance of uncertainty predict anticipatory startle responses to uncertain threat?
Nelson, B. D., & Shankman, S. A. (2011) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2011.05.003 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Gorka, S. M., Fitzgerald, D. A., King, A. C., & Phan, K. L. (2013) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-013-3090-0 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
If or when? Uncertainty's role in anxious anticipation
Bennett, K. P., Sinclair, J. V., & Larson, C. L. (2018) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.13066 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Effects of predictability of shock timing and intensity on aversive responses
Shankman, S. A., Robison-Andrew, E. J., Nelson, B. D., Altman, S. E., & Campbell, M. L. (2011) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2011.02.008 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Gorka, S. M., Lieberman, L., Phan, K. L., & Shankman, S. A. (2016) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.04.034 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Goodman, F. R., Stiksma, M. C., & Kashdan, T. B. (2018) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2017.10.002 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Russell, N. M., Frier, M. D., Bortolato, M., & Mangieri, R. A. (2026) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-025-06938-0 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- Moberg, C. A., & Curtin, J. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Abnormal Psychology
- Published
- 2009-05
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 335-347
- ISSN
- 0021-843X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1846
- PMC
- PMC2756160
- OpenAlex
- W2146379594
- Cited by
- 138
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 9.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Abnormal Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA15384)
- National Institute of Mental Health (5T32MH018931-18)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- alcohol, anxiety, fear, startle potentiation, unpredictable threat, benzodiazepines, anxiolytic effects, sustained attention, alcohol intoxication, electric shock
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Ethanol, Anxiety, Central Nervous System Depressants, Conditioning, Classical, Cues, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Electric Stimulation, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Reaction Time, Reflex, Startle, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
