Threat and trait anxiety affect stability of gaze fixation

Threat accelerates early visual information processing, as shown by shorter P100 latencies of pattern Visual Evoked Potentials in subjects with low trait anxiety, but the opposite is true for high anxious subjects. We sought to determine if, and how, threat and trait anxiety interact to affect stability of gaze fixation. We used video oculography to record gaze position in the presence and in the absence of a fixational stimulus, in a safe and a verbal threat condition in subjects characterised for their trait anxiety. Trait anxiety significantly predicted fixational instability in the threat condition. An extreme tertile analysis revealed that fixation was less stable in the high anxiety group, especially under threat or in the absence of a stimulus. The effects of anxiety extend to perceptual and sensorimotor processes. These results have implications for the understanding of individual differences in occulomotor planning and visually guided behavior.