Search research articles

Related Concept Videos

Long-term Depression

Long-term Depression

Long-term depression, or LTD, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTD is the process of synaptic weakening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic weakening of LTD works in opposition to synaptic strengthening by long-term potentiation (LTP) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.

Anxiety: Overview

Anxiety: Overview

Anxiety is a common mental disorder featuring excessive worry, fear, and apprehension, significantly affecting daily life. People with anxiety disorders experience persistent and intense anxiety, interrupting their everyday functioning.
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.

Freezing Point Depression and Boiling Point Elevation

Freezing Point Depression and Boiling Point Elevation

Boiling Point Elevation
The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to ambient atmospheric pressure. Since the vapor pressure of a solution is lowered due to the presence of nonvolatile solutes, it stands to reason that the solution’s boiling point will subsequently be increased. Vapor pressure increases with temperature, and so a solution will require a higher temperature than will pure solvent to achieve any given vapor pressure, including one...

Depressants

Depressants

Depressant drugs, including alcohol and sedative-hypnotics, diminish central nervous system activity by enhancing the action of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that reduces brain activity and promotes relaxation. These substances can have various therapeutic uses but also pose significant risks, especially when misused or combined.
Alcohol is a common depressant that can induce a sense of relaxation and reduced inhibition at low doses. Contrary to its occasional...

Psychodynamic Perspectives on Personality

Psychodynamic Perspectives on Personality

The psychodynamic perspective in psychology asserts that most personality functions operate unconsciously, outside of awareness. This means that the motives and emotions driving behavior often remain hidden, automatically buried in the unconscious mind as a defense mechanism to shield us from psychological distress. According to this theory, the unconscious mind contains thoughts, memories, and emotions that are too disturbing to face directly.
Psychodynamic theorists argue that unconscious...

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic condition characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry that persists for at least six months, significantly interfering with daily functioning. Unlike situational anxiety, which arises in response to specific stressors, GAD often occurs without a clear cause. Individuals may experience disproportionate worry about work, health, or relationships. For instance, a person might continuously fear poor health despite normal medical evaluations or...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Latent subdimensions of anxiety and depression differentially influence exertion of effort in pursuit of reward versus avoidance of threat.

Translational psychiatry·2026

Same author

Dual process impairments in reinforcement learning and working memory systems underlie learning deficits in physiological anxiety.

PLoS computational biology·2025

Same author

Judging emotion in natural images of crowds.

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)·2024

Same author

Occipital-temporal cortical tuning to semantic and affective features of natural images predicts associated behavioral responses.

Nature communications·2024

Same author

Biased belief priors versus biased belief updating: Differential correlates of depression and anxiety.

PLoS computational biology·2022

Same author

The Computational and Neural Substrates of Ambiguity Avoidance in Anxiety.

Computational psychiatry (Cambridge, Mass.)·2022

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

Published on: July 19, 2017

Anxiety, Depression, and Decision Making: A Computational Perspective.

Sonia J Bishop^1,2, Christopher Gagne¹

¹Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA;

Annual Review of Neuroscience

|May 1, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Decision-making under uncertainty is complex. This review explores how anxiety and depression alter computations for decision-making, impacting threat avoidance and reward seeking.

Keywords:

anxiety decision making depression reinforcement learning reward threat

More Related Videos

Perspectives on Neuroscience

Perspectives on Neuroscience

Published on: July 31, 2007

The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior

The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior

Published on: March 2, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

Published on: July 19, 2017

Perspectives on Neuroscience

Perspectives on Neuroscience

Published on: July 31, 2007

The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior

The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior

Published on: March 2, 2015

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychopathology
Behavioral Economics

Background:

Everyday actions involve uncertain outcomes, probabilities, values, and effort.
Individual differences in estimating these factors and using model-free versus model-based decision-making influence behavior.
Anxiety and depression are linked to decision-making difficulties, specifically threat avoidance and reduced reward seeking.

Purpose of the Study:

To review evidence on altered decision-making computations in anxiety and depression.
To examine the consequences of these alterations for action selection.
To propose a framework integrating findings for future research.

Main Methods:

Literature review of studies examining decision-making processes in anxiety and depression.
Analysis of computational biases and their behavioral consequences.
Synthesis of findings into a conceptual framework.

Main Results:

Anxiety is associated with biases in threat evaluation and avoidance behaviors.
Depression is linked to altered reward processing and reduced goal-directed actions.
Specific computational deficits in decision-making are identified for each condition.

Conclusions:

Anxiety and depression involve distinct, yet potentially overlapping, alterations in decision-making computations.
Understanding these biases is crucial for specifying the precise deficits in psychopathology.
The proposed framework can guide future research on decision-making in mental health.