Cognitive processing of emotional information in panic disorder

Panic-disordered (PD) patients, obsessive-compulsive (OCD) patients, and normal control subjects were exposed to either a high (i.e. exercise) or low arousal manipulation prior to performing a computerized version of the modified Stroop color-naming paradigm. Subjects named the colors of neutral nonlexical stimuli, positive words, and threat words associated with fear, bodily sensations, and catastrophes. After the Stroop task, subjects rated the personal emotional significance of the words. Inconsistent with the emotionality hypothesis of Stroop interference, PD patients rated positive words as more emotional than catastrophe words, but took longer to color-name the latter than the former. Yet consistent with the emotionality hypothesis, PD patients took as long to color-name positive words as to color-name fear and bodily sensation words. Contrary to expectation, OCD patients resembled PD patients in terms of interference, and arousal did not enhance interference for threat words in PD patients.