Greater left and right amygdala responses to P-direct and M- averted gaze fear, respectively. + + + + Correct! Parvo (P) biased Magno (M) biased Unbiased Fearful or Neutral? Ready! 200-400ms Stimulus 1000 ms Blank 1100-1300 ms Feedback + + Ready! Stimulus 500 ms + What was emotion of the face? 1) Neutral 2) Angry 3) Fearful 4) Couldn’t recognize Contrast was varied on each trial, depending on participant’s response. + + Ready! Single Trial 12 cycles + Make the stimulus: 1) Redder 2) Greener 3) Done Stimulus 32 ms Stimulus 32 ms Pretest 1 Pretest 2 Main experiment • M and P pathways are geared towards processing clear threat and ambiguous threat cues in facial fear (reflexive vs. reflective processing), respectively. • Observers’ trait anxiety specifically modulates these two major visual streams, both facilitating processing of M-biased clear threat cues and interfering with processing of P-biased ambiguous threat cues. •Trait anxiety also differentially modulates the left and right amygdala reactivity to P-biased ambiguous and M-biased clear threat cues, respectively. Trait anxiety moderates visual pathway contributions to the processing of clear versus ambiguous threat Reginald B. Adams, Jr. 1 , Hee Yeon Im 2,3 , Noreen Ward 2 , Jasmine Boshyan 2,3 , Cody Cushing 2 , and Kestutis Kveraga 2,3 References Funding: NIH R01MH101194 to K.K. and R.B.A., Jr. Conclusion 1. Adams, R. B., Jr., Franklin, R. G., Jr., Kveraga, K., Ambady, N., Kleck, R. E., Whalen, P. J., Hadjikhani, N. & Nelson, A. J. (2012). Amygdala responses to averted versus direct gaze fear vary as a function of presentation speed. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7, 568-577. 2. Ewbank, M. P., Fox, E., & Calder, A. J. (2010). The interaction between gaze and facial expression in the amygdala and extended amygdala is modulated by anxiety. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 4, 56. 3. Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. #43.4023 www. kveragalab.org 1 Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 2 Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 3 Department of Radiology, Harvard University • 108 subjects (age: 18-70; mean = 37.05; SD = 14.7) • Anxiety measurement: Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; 1983) • Multi-echo fMRI: 1.5T, TR: 2.5s, TE: 34ms • Customized, manual shimming Method • Understanding differential contributions of the magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P) pathways to processing facial threat cues. • Understanding the moderating role of trait anxiety on neural responses to threat. • Fear expressions combined with averted gaze clearly signal where threat resides. Fear expressions coupled with direct gaze, however, are more ambiguous. • Amygdalar responses have been found to be greater to clear threat when rapidly presented (300 ms) and to ambiguous threat for more sustained presentations (1 s; Adams et al., 2012). Similar flips have been reported as a function of anxiety (Ewbank et al., 2010). Background Research objectives M-biased P-biased Trait anxiety Response time (sec) Direct-gaze fear Behavioral results Trait anxiety Response time (sec) Averted-gaze fear Faster RT with higher anxiety for M- and P-averted fear Trait anxiety Proportion correct Averted-gaze fear Better accuracy with anxiety for M-averted fear Trait anxiety Proportion correct Direct-gaze fear Accuracy decreased with anxiety for P-direct fear ✓ Direct-gaze fear ✓ Ambiguous threat e.g. “where is the source of threat?” ✓ Averted-gaze fear ✓ Clear threat 2.6 4 P direct - P averted M averted - M direct • N = 108 • Covariates: age and anxiety fMRI results: group analysis fMRI results: ROI analysis • Amygdala coordinates: x=±18, y=-2, y=16; Ewbank et al., (2010) % signal change Trait anxiety % signal change Trait anxiety Averted-gaze fear Direct-gaze fear Trait anxiety % signal change % signal change Trait anxiety Averted-gaze fear Direct-gaze fear Left amygdala Right amygdala Laterality effect (R-L) High trait anxiety was associated with increased right amygdala for M-averted gaze fear and increased left amygdala for P-direct gaze fear. Trait anxiety % signal change % signal change Trait anxiety Right -Left amygdala Right -Left amygdala Averted-gaze fear Direct-gaze fear RH dominant LH dominant RH dominant LH dominant Magnitude of laterality effects for M-averted and P-direct gaze fear increased with higher trait anxiety. L R