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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety
10:51

Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety

Published on: January 20, 2012

Contamination aversion and repeated exposure to disgusting stimuli.

Thomas G Adams1, Jeffrey L Willems, Ana J Bridges

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA. tomadams@uark.edu

Anxiety, Stress, and Coping
|August 26, 2010
PubMed
Summary

Disgust habituation is slower than fear in individuals with high contamination aversion (CA). This suggests CA severity impacts how disgust responds to exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Emotional Disorders

Background:

  • Disgust plays a key role in contamination aversion (CA).
  • Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is effective for CA, but disgust shows resistance to habituation.
  • It remains unclear if disgust's habituation resistance is due to the emotion itself or the disorder's severity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if contamination aversion (CA) severity moderates the habituation of disgust and fear during exposure therapy.
  • To compare emotional responses (disgust and fear) to a contamination stimulus in individuals with high and low CA.

Main Methods:

  • An undergraduate sample (n=33) was divided into high CA (HCA; n=17) and low CA (LCA; n=16) groups.
  • Participants underwent repeated exposure to a disgusting, contamination-relevant stimulus.
  • Emotional responding, specifically disgust and fear, was measured throughout the exposure process.

Main Results:

  • Disgust habituation was slower than fear habituation in the HCA group, but not the LCA group.
  • Fear decayed faster across trials in HCA participants compared to LCA participants.
  • Disgust decay was similar between the HCA and LCA groups.

Conclusions:

  • Habituation of disgust is slower than fear when contamination aversion (CA) is elevated.
  • The severity of CA influences the habituation patterns of disgust and fear during exposure.
  • Findings suggest CA severity moderates emotional habituation, impacting treatment considerations for ERP.