Emotional Perceptual Training as a Treatment for Social Anxiety: Behavioral and Neural Evidence.
- Conditions
- Anxiety Disorders and SymptomsSocial Anxiety Disorder
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Perceptual RetrainingBehavioral: Gender Discrimination
- Registration Number
- NCT03437317
- Lead Sponsor
- Florida State University
- Brief Summary
The Perceptual Training Study is a series of studies performed with the purpose of identifying a potential avenue for treatment of mood disorders, particularly anxiety-based mood disorders. The underlying theme is that neural representations may be threat-oriented, and may also be generalized to non-threatening cues by means of similarity to threatening representations. These may result in anxiety symptoms from innocuous cues. The idea behind the perceptual training is to create a divorce between the threat representations and cues which should be considered non-threatening, enhancing perceptual acuity and potentially reducing anxiety symptoms.
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 154
- Right-handed
- Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
- History of a diagnosed neurological or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - IV Axis I disorder
- Currently taking prescribed psychoactive drugs, including anti-depressants or anxiolytics.
- Having electrically, magnetically, or mechanically activated implants (e.g. cardiac pacemakers), due to incompatibility with MRI and MEG systems.
- Pregnancy or suspected pregnancy
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Active - MEG Perceptual Retraining Participants completed 1 session of 8 Perceptual Retraining blocks following an instructional presentation. Active - 3 Behavior/EEG Perceptual Retraining Participants completed 3 sessions of Perceptual Retraining following an instructional presentation. The first session included 6 blocks of perceptual training, and the second session included 12 blocks of perceptual training. No perceptual training was performed in session 3. Sessions were spaced approximately 7 days apart, with a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 14 days apart. Control - MEG Gender Discrimination Participants completed 1 session of 8 blocks of Gender Discrimination Task. Control - 3 Behavior/MEG Gender Discrimination Participants completed 3 sessions of a Gender Discrimination Task. The first session included 6 blocks of gender discrimination task, and the second session included 12 blocks of the gender discrimination task. No gender discrimination task was performed in session 3. Sessions were spaced approximately 7 days apart, with a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 14 days apart. Active - 1 Behavior/MEG Perceptual Retraining Participants completed 1 session of 6 Perceptual Retraining blocks following an instructional presentation.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Behavioral Evidence for Categorical Perception Changes Baseline to Study Completion (14 to 28 Days) Participants will be asked to respond if they detected anger in faces varying in their levels of anger expression. This task is used to determine a perceptual bias for threat/anger in faces that is related to increases in social anxiety symptoms, and assess for improvements in the categorization of angry vs. neutral faces. that align with modulations of neural responses (MEG and EEG evidence) indexing perceptual processing of the faces following perceptual retraining.
Neural Evidence for Categorical Perception Changes Baseline to Study Completion (14 to 28 Days) Neural activity will be recorded using EEG and MEG to measure neural processes underpinning categorical perception of anger in faces. Changes in this neural perceptual index will be assessed following perceptual retraining to provide a neural mechanism underpinning behavioral improvements in perceptual categorization and subsequent reductions in anxiety.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Social Anxiety Symptoms - Social Phobia Scale Baseline to Study Completion (14 to 28 Days) Change in social anxiety symptomatology through perceptual retraining
Social Anxiety Symptoms - Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Baseline to Study Completion (14 to 28 Days) Change in social anxiety symptomatology through perceptual retraining