Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 8, 2026
Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
Neural correlates of a computerized attention modification program in anxious subjects
Charles T Taylor1, Robin L Aupperle2, Taru Flagan2
1San Diego State University, Center for Treating and Understanding Anxiety, Department of Psychology, 6386 Alvarado Court, Suite 301, San Diego, CA 92120, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 8939 Villa La Jolla Drive, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92037, Department of Psychology, University of Missouri at Kansas City, 64110, Kansas City, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 78712, Austin and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA 92161, United States San Diego State University, Center for Treating and Understanding Anxiety, Department of Psychology, 6386 Alvarado Court, Suite 301, San Diego, CA 92120, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 8939 Villa La Jolla Drive, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92037, Department of Psychology, University of Missouri at Kansas City, 64110, Kansas City, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 78712, Austin and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA 92161, United States c1taylor@ucsd.edu.
Abstract:
Computerized attention modification is a relatively new and empirically validated treatment approach for different types of anxiety disorders. However, its neural basis and processes involved are poorly understood. This study examined the effect of a one-time application of an attention modification program (AMP) on neural substrates underlying emotion processing in individuals with high social anxiety. Fourteen individuals with elevated social anxiety symptoms completed an emotional face processing task during functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after AMP, and were subsequently exposed to a laboratory stressor. Results revealed the following: First, there was attenuated activation from pre- to post-AMP in the bilateral amygdala, bilateral insula and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. Second, post-AMP, individuals exhibited increased activation in several regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Third, those individuals with greater enhancement of ventromedial PFC activation after AMP showed diminished attentional allocation for threat and attenuated anxiety reactivity to the stressor. We conclude that AMP exerts effects that are similar to those previously reported for standard anxiolytics; however, it also appears to foster deployment of top-down brain processes aimed to regulate anxiety.
