Childhood maltreatment increases risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Maladaptive patterns of attention to threat-related stimuli warrant examination as possible contributing risk factors. It remains unclear whether persistent threat-processing biases are differentially apparent in adults who were maltreated as children and either did, or did not, develop later PTSD. The present study examined associations among attention bias, childhood maltreatment, and PTSD in adults. We hypothesized that attentional bias toward threat significantly mediates associations between childhood maltreatment and adult PTSD symptoms. 183 adults with and without childhood maltreatment histories participated in this study, which involved completion of a range of clinical measures; attention bias was measured by the Dot Probe task. We found that attention bias toward happy faces partially mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and PTSD avoidance and numbing symptoms. Childhood maltreatment, happy face attention bias, and perceived racially discriminative experiences all accounted for significant variance in PTSD symptoms.

Attention biases to trauma-related information contribute to symptom maintenance in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); this phenomenon has been observed through various behavioral studies, although findings from studies using a precise, direct bias task, the dot probe, have been mixed. PTSD neuroimaging studies have indicated atypical function in specific brain regions involved with attention bias; when viewing emotionally-salient cues or engaging in tasks that require attention, individuals with PTSD have demonstrated altered activity in brain regions implicated in cognitive control and attention allocation, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and amygdala. However, remarkably few PTSD neuroimaging studies have employed tasks that both measure attentional strategies being engaged and include emotionally-salient information. In the current study of attention biases in highly traumatized African-American adults, a version of the dot probe task that includes stimuli that are both salient (threatening facial expressions) and relevant (photographs of African-American faces) was administered to 19 participants with and without PTSD during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). I hypothesized that: 1) individuals with PTSD would show a significantly greater attention bias to threatening faces than traumatized controls; 2) PTSD symptoms would be associated with a significantly greater attentional bias toward threat expressed in African-American, but not Caucasian, faces; 3) PTSD symptoms would be significantly associated with abnormal activity in the mPFC, dlPFC, and amygdala during presentation of threatening faces. Behavioral data did not provide evidence of attentional biases associated with PTSD. However, increased activation in the dlPFC and regions of the mPFC in response to threat cues was found in individuals with PTSD, relative to traumatized controls without PTSD; this may reflect hyper-engaged cognitive control, attention, and conflict monitoring resources in these individuals. Additionally, viewing threat in same-race, both not other-race, faces was associated with increased activation in the mPFC. These findings have important theoretical and treatment implications, suggesting that PTSD, particularly in those individuals who have experienced chronic or multiple types of trauma, may be characterized less by top-down “deficits” or failures, but by imbalanced neurobiological and cognitive systems that become over-engaged in order to “control” the emotional disruption caused by trauma-related triggers.

Childhood maltreatment increases risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Maladaptive patterns of attention to threat-related stimuli warrant examination as possible contributing risk factors. It remains unclear whether persistent threat-processing biases are differentially apparent in adults who were maltreated as children and either did, or did not, develop later PTSD. The present study examined associations among attention bias, childhood maltreatment, and PTSD in adults. We hypothesized that attentional bias toward threat significantly mediates associations between childhood maltreatment and adult PTSD symptoms. 183 adults with and without childhood maltreatment histories participated in this study, which involved completion of a range of clinical measures; attention bias was measured by the Dot Probe task. We found that attention bias toward happy faces partially mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and PTSD avoidance and numbing symptoms. Childhood maltreatment, happy face attention bias, and perceived racially discriminative experiences all accounted for significant variance in PTSD symptoms.

Many dogs suffer from separation anxiety and become excessively stressed when their owner is absent. Since many dogs are left home alone daily, their welfare is at stake. Attention bias tests (ABTs) have previously been used as a way to measure welfare in other non-human animals. The aim of this study was to investigate attention bias in dogs with separation anxiety and dogs without separation anxiety in situations of different short-term emotional states. Three ABTs were performed to assess this, the first one was baseline and included no treatment (neutral) prior to the ABT. The second one was play which had a play treatment (positive) before the ABT, where the dog played with their owner for 2.5 min. The third one was isolation which had an isolation treatment (negative) prior to the ABT, where the dog was alone for 2.5 min. The owner was only present during the ABT in baseline and play. The results showed that separation anxiety only had an effect on barking during isolation, where dogs with separation anxiety barked more. Dogs performed more behaviours related to the owner being absent during isolation: more vocalisation, more looking at the door, being closer to the door (zone five), and being less in the area where the owner stood during baseline and play (zone six), compared to both baseline and play. To my knowledge, the usage of ABTs to measure welfare in dogs are few, and this study revealed that separation anxiety does not affect attention bias.

Although several efficacious treatments exist for social anxiety disorder (SAD), less research has been devoted to identifying specific mechanisms involved in the etiology of SAD using high-risk, longitudinal designs. Given the high prevalence and personal and societal burden associated with a diagnosis of SAD, research is needed to elucidate causal factors at play in the development of SAD to inform innovative prevention programs for at-risk individuals. Theoretical models and empirical research suggest that biased attention toward threat-relevant information is an important factor in the maintenance of SAD. However, relatively little is known about the role of attention bias to threat in the development of SAD, and evidence is inconclusive with regard to whether attention biases lead to increases in anxiety over time. Also, only one study has examined attentional control as a potential factor moderating this relationship despite long-held assertions that "control over cognitive processes" may be an important individual difference factor determining the strength of the relationship between attention bias and development of excessive anxiety. Finally, a few studies have shown that attention bias to threat predicts stress reactivity, but these studies have only been conducted in unselected samples rather than with individuals at risk for developing SAD. Thus, the aims of this study were to examine the moderating effects of risk for SAD and attentional control on the relationships between attention bias to threat and (1) psychological and biological social stress reactivity and (2) development of SAD. The primary aim of the study was to examine the aforementioned relationships using attention bias to threat as assessed using the modified probe detection task (MPDT). In an exploratory analysis, the relationships were examined using an index of attention disengagement bias assessed with the Posner spatial cueing task (PSCT). Attentional control was represented by four indices, analyzed in separate regression analyses given their weak bivariate associations (i.e., Antisaccade task reaction time and accuracy rate, Attention Network Test executive control score, and total score on the Attentional Control Scale). First-year college students at low or high risk for developing SAD completed assessments of attention bias, attentional control, and anxiety during their first month of college. Approximately four months later, they completed a social stressor task and the same self-report measures of social anxiety. At the end of their first year in college, they completed the self-report measures of social anxiety once more, as well as a diagnostic interview for SAD. Correlational analyses indicated that attention bias to threat on the MPDT was associated with concurrent self-reported social anxiety but did not prospectively predict psychological or biological social stress reactivity, self-reported social anxiety, or SAD diagnostic status at the end of the first year in college. Hierarchical regression analyses supported the hypothesized double moderation for concurrent social anxiety, such that high levels of attentional control weakened the association between attention bias toward threat and social anxiety, only among the individuals at high risk for SAD. However, analyses did not support this relationship in predicting prospective outcomes, and several unexpected patterns emerged in which interactions between attention bias and attentional control were observed to predict prospective outcomes, but only among individuals at low risk for developing SAD. Likewise, exploratory analyses using the PSCT index of attention bias revealed unexpected interactions between risk group, attention bias, and attentional control. Considered together, results of the current study highlight the importance of considering individual differences in attention bias and attentional control in the maintenance and development of SAD. / Psychology

Attention biases to trauma-related information contribute to symptom maintenance in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); this phenomenon has been observed through various behavioral studies, although findings from studies using a precise, direct bias task, the dot probe, have been mixed. PTSD neuroimaging studies have indicated atypical function in specific brain regions involved with attention bias; when viewing emotionally-salient cues or engaging in tasks that require attention, individuals with PTSD have demonstrated altered activity in brain regions implicated in cognitive control and attention allocation, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and amygdala. However, remarkably few PTSD neuroimaging studies have employed tasks that both measure attentional strategies being engaged and include emotionally-salient information. In the current study of attention biases in highly traumatized African-American adults, a version of the dot probe task that includes stimuli that are both salient (threatening facial expressions) and relevant (photographs of African-American faces) was administered to 19 participants with and without PTSD during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). I hypothesized that: 1) individuals with PTSD would show a significantly greater attention bias to threatening faces than traumatized controls; 2) PTSD symptoms would be associated with a significantly greater attentional bias toward threat expressed in African-American, but not Caucasian, faces; 3) PTSD symptoms would be significantly associated with abnormal activity in the mPFC, dlPFC, and amygdala during presentation of threatening faces. Behavioral data did not provide evidence of attentional biases associated with PTSD. However, increased activation in the dlPFC and regions of the mPFC in response to threat cues was found in individuals with PTSD, relative to traumatized controls without PTSD; this may reflect hyper-engaged cognitive control, attention, and conflict monitoring resources in these individuals. Additionally, viewing threat in same-race, both not other-race, faces was associated with increased activation in the mPFC. These findings have important theoretical and treatment implications, suggesting that PTSD, particularly in those individuals who have experienced chronic or multiple types of trauma, may be characterized less by top-down “deficits” or failures, but by imbalanced neurobiological and cognitive systems that become over-engaged in order to “control” the emotional disruption caused by trauma-related triggers.

A normative experimental study was undertaken to establish whether engaging in positive, negative, and neutral mental imagery affected the reaction rate of participants to positive, negative, and neutral word stimuli. The sample consisted of computer literate, English speaking participants with no history of clinical disorders. A total of 80 participants took part in the study, with 40 participants from either gender. The results of a factorial ANOVA indicated that the type of mental imagery engaged in had a significant effect on the rate at which participants responded to stimuli (p=.00023, F=8.4057), whilst the emotional valence of the stimuli did not have a significant effect (p=.30503, F=1.1877). However, the interaction between the type of mental imagery and the emotional valence of the stimuli was highly significant (p=.00794, F=3.4576), thereby indicating that engaging in positive or negative mental imagery did bias participants towards a faster reaction rate to positive or negative stimuli respectively. / M.A. (Psychology) / Psychology

A normative experimental study was undertaken to establish whether engaging in positive, negative, and neutral mental imagery affected the reaction rate of participants to positive, negative, and neutral word stimuli. The sample consisted of computer literate, English speaking participants with no history of clinical disorders. A total of 80 participants took part in the study, with 40 participants from either gender. The results of a factorial ANOVA indicated that the type of mental imagery engaged in had a significant effect on the rate at which participants responded to stimuli (p=.00023, F=8.4057), whilst the emotional valence of the stimuli did not have a significant effect (p=.30503, F=1.1877). However, the interaction between the type of mental imagery and the emotional valence of the stimuli was highly significant (p=.00794, F=3.4576), thereby indicating that engaging in positive or negative mental imagery did bias participants towards a faster reaction rate to positive or negative stimuli respectively. / M. A. (Psychology) / Psychology

No description available.

研究目的 失眠的過度激發是目前最廣為接受的失眠病因之一。無論在生理、認知、行為三不同層面上，多可觀察到失眠者有身心過度激發的狀態。根據失眠三因子模式，不同失眠病程階段，影響過度激發的背後成因有所差異。在慢性失眠部分，過 去累積了相當多的實證研究證實其過度激發的現象，但尚未進入慢性病程前之過度激發相關機轉，仍有待研究進一步探討。本研究嘗試以橫斷式的研究方法，並依據過去失眠病因發展推導，選擇從壓力反應特性 (包含壓力操弄後的壓力反應強度和 消退速度)、注意力偏誤 (包含警覺性注意力和注意力移除困難)、與睡前的睡眠監控行為三個面向切入，探討不同病程階段個體過度激發的背後機轉，並進一步檢驗上述之差異是否可用以預測在壓力操弄情境下，不同病程個體睡前的激發反應變化，藉此檢驗失眠病程發展之病因假說，並希望未來可據此發展有效之失眠防治與介入策略。 研究方法 本研究共計招募受試者 58 人，年齡介於 24-48 歲，包含符合 ICSD-3 慢性失眠者 18 人，以及以壓力下失眠反應量表( Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test; FIRST)區分出急性失眠高危險組 19 人與低危險組 21 人。每位受試者皆需到睡眠實驗室進行兩階段的實驗，第一階段包含晤談評估、問卷填答、壓力反應的生理測量(以指溫與膚電為指標)、與包含威脅與睡眠刺激之點偵測注意力作業，之後需配戴腕錶與記錄睡眠日誌配合充足且規律作息一週後，再到睡眠實驗室進行第二階段的評量，包含睡前 2 小時、1 小時、關燈前生理指標 (指溫、膚電) 與腦波的測量和主觀身心激發狀態 (Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale, 簡稱 PSAS) 評量，於睡前填寫睡眠相關監測指標 (Sleep Associated Monitoring Index，簡稱 SAMI)，並完成一晚的 PSG 測量以排除其他睡眠相關疾患。 研究結果 首先，以單因子變異數分析比較不同組別間在壓力反應與回復和二因子變異數分析注意力警覺/移除困難指標的差異。在壓力生理反應表現上，慢性失眠組與高危險組在接受壓力操弄後的激發消退時間較低危險組來得長。在注意力層面，高危險組對壓力(威脅圖片) 刺激有顯著的警覺與移除困難注意力偏誤，慢性失眠組則是對睡眠刺激有顯著的移除困難注意力偏誤。在行為層面，慢性失眠組與高危險組睡前的注意力監控行為 (包含監測自身身體感覺訊息是否與入睡狀態不一致、鬧鐘 時間、環境) 均顯著較低危險組來得多。再者，以皮爾森相關探討注意力偏誤與睡前激發反應之關聯性，結果顯示高危險組的注意力偏誤現象與睡前高頻腦波與主觀生理激發的降幅呈現顯著負相關; 而慢性失眠組的注意力偏誤指標卻與膚電、主觀認知激發的降幅呈顯著正相關。 結論 本研究結果支持不同失眠病程背後的過度激發影響機制有所差異，生理層面較慢的激發消退能力與對壓力源的認知偏誤的前置因子，可能為急性失眠者易受日常壓力源誘發睡眠困擾之原因；而影響慢性失眠族群的持續因子主要在於其將睡眠視 為壓力源的認知歷程與行為轉變。此外，研究更進一步發現兩組分別對於壓力與睡眠的注意力轉移困難，使其在覺察壓力後易持續表現出過度激發現象。本研究結果除支持失眠過度激發理論之外，更釐清不同階段失眠的認知歷程的機制，並彰顯不 同失眠病程介入策略應有所差異，和急性失眠高危險族群及早介入預防之重要性。 / Introduction Hyperarousal has been recognized to be a major etiological factor of chronic insomnia. Cumulated research evidences have demonstrated that chronic insomnia patients are hyperaroused in somatic, cognitive, and behavioral aspects. According to Spielman’s 3P Model of Insomnia, there were different factors are involved at different points during the course of insomnia. However, there are seldom study to investigate the difference mechanism of hyperarousal in the course of the development of insomnia. The present study used cross-sectional design to compare the difference of good sleeper (low sleep vulnerability, LV), acute insomnia (high sleep vulnerability, HV), and chronic insomnia (CI) in stress reaction (eg. reactivity and recovery), attentional bias (eg. vigilance and disengagement), and sleep associated monitoring behaviors to investigate the underlying mechanism of hyperarousal. Furthermore, the study examined the correlation between attentional bias indices and subsequent pre-sleep arousal to investigate the impact of attentional bias on sleep in different groups. Method The present study recruited fifty-eight subjects, aged between 24-48. They included eighteen chronic insomniacs (CI) diagnosed ICSD-3, nineteen healthy individuals scoring high (HV) and twenty-one healthy individuals scoring low (LV) on the Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test (FIRST). All subjects visited sleep lab twice. During the first visit, the subjects filled in a package of questionnaires, and went through psychophysiological recording (including) of stress reaction, and a visual dot-probe task. They then were required to keep a sleep log and wear actigraphy at home for one-week to make sure they followed a regular sleep schedule. During the second visit, subjects went through a pre-sleep physiological recording (including peripheral temperature, skin conductance, and EEG) and filled in two questionnaires (Pre Sleep Arousal Scale [PSAS] and Sleep Associated Monitoring Index[SAMI]) at three time points and had a PSG recording to screen for sleep disorders. Result One-way ANOVAs were conducted to compare the differences of stress reaction/recovery among three groups. Two-way ANOVAs were used to compare the differences in attentional bias (vigilance/ disengagement) of threatening and sleep-related stimulus among three groups. In stress related physiological activity, CI and HV showed slower recovery rate than LV. Considering attentional bias, HV had significant vigilance and disengagement bias to threatening pictures, and CI had significant disengagement bias to sleep-related pictures. CI and HV also showed more prevalent sleep-associated monitoring behaviors than LV. Furthermore, Spearman’s correlation was used to examine the association between attentional bias and pre-sleep arousal. The result shows the attentional bias of HV had negative correlation with reduction of high frequency EEG and somatic sub-score on the PSAS. In contrast to our prediction, CI showed positive correlation between decrease of skin conductance and the cognitive sub-score on the PSAS. Conclusion The study showed that stress recovery ability and stress-related attentional bias were the major differences between individuals with low and high sleep vulnerability, indicating that increased information processing to threats and stress-related stimulus as well as decreased recovery ability of autonomic arousal in reacting to stress may predisposed an individual to stress-related sleep disturbances. On the other hand, the attention shift from threat toward sleep can differentiate chronic insomnia from those individual with frequent acute insomnia. Moreover, the difficulty in disengagement from sleep-related stimulus, rather the vigilance, might explain the cause of hyperarousal that perpetuate insomnia. The results support the transition of arousal from general treat to sleep-related stimulus in the development of chronic insomnia. The study not only further the understanding of the etiological mechanism of insomnia, but also imply that different strategies should be applied in the treatment of acute and chronic insomnia. It also highlights the importance of preventive intervention for individuals with high sleep vulnerability