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Startle reflex potentiation during aversive picture viewing as an indicator of trait fear
Open accessAbstract
Measures of fearfulness and measures of psychopathy show positive and negative associations, respectively, with startle reflex potentiation during unpleasant picture viewing. We tested the hypothesis that a common bipolar trait dimension underlies these differing associations. Blink responses to noise probes were recorded during pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures in 88 undergraduates assessed with a battery of self‐report scales indexing fear and psychopathy/fearlessness. A significant positive association was found between an omnibus index of fear, consisting of scores on the first component from a principal components analysis of these various scales, and startle potentiation during aversive picture viewing. This association was most robust, across participants overall and within gender subgroups, for scenes that were most directly threatening. Implications for psychophysiological research on individual differences and psychopathology are discussed.
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“Collectively, these findings support the idea that socially and directly acquired fear are subject to individual differences along a common trait of fearfulness41 and that oxytocin neurotransmission contributes exclusively to the former.”
From Oxytocin enhances observational fear in mice (2017) · cites this paper as [41]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Vaidyanathan, U., Patrick, C. J., & Bernat, E. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Vaidyanathan, Uma
- Patrick, Christopher J.
- Venue
- Psychophysiology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-12-23
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 75-85
- ISSN
- 0048-5772 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8986
- PMC
- PMC2785007
- OpenAlex
- W2135595808
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 8.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychophysiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH 072850, K08MH080239, P50MH072850)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- fearlessness, psychopathy, unpleasant stimuli, individual differences, gender differences, threats
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Blinking, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Fear, Female, Humans, Individuality, Male, Photic Stimulation, Reflex, Startle, Young Adult
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