TY - JOUR
T1 - For whom the bell tolls
T2 - Neurocognitive individual differences in the acute stress-reduction effects of an attention bias modification game for anxiety
AU - Dennis-Tiwary, Tracy A.
AU - Egan, Laura J.
AU - Babkirk, Sarah
AU - Denefrio, Samantha
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was made possible by grant SC1MH104907 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded to T.D-T. and by grant TR000457 of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health . This publication was also made possible by a Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities ( MD007599 ) of the National Institutes of Health. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIMHD or the NIH.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2016/2/1
Y1 - 2016/2/1
N2 - The efficacy of attention bias modification training (ABMT) for anxiety is debated, in part because individual differences in task engagement and pre-training threat bias impact training efficacy. In the present study, an engaging, gamified ABMT mobile application, or "app," was utilized in 42 (21 females) trait-anxious adults. EEG was recorded during pre- and post-training threat bias assessment to generate scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) reflecting neurocognitive responses to threat. Following app play (ABMT versus placebo), subjective anxiety and stress responses (observed and self-reported) were measured. ABMT, versus placebo, resulted in improved behavioral performance during the stress task for females, and in potentiation of the N2 ERP to threat for males, suggesting increased attention control. Training groups did not differ in self-reported anxiety. ABMT also resulted in improved performance during the stress task among those evidencing specific pre-training ERP responses: decreased P1, suggesting less attention allocation, but potentiated N170, suggesting enhanced attention selection and discrimination. Differences in behavioral threat bias did not moderate training effects. Results suggest that efficient allocation of attention to threat combined with enhanced discrimination between threat and non-threat may facilitate stress-reduction effects of ABMT. Targeting neurocognitive responses to threat to personalize ABMT and develop more effective methods of treatment delivery, such as gamification, are discussed.
AB - The efficacy of attention bias modification training (ABMT) for anxiety is debated, in part because individual differences in task engagement and pre-training threat bias impact training efficacy. In the present study, an engaging, gamified ABMT mobile application, or "app," was utilized in 42 (21 females) trait-anxious adults. EEG was recorded during pre- and post-training threat bias assessment to generate scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) reflecting neurocognitive responses to threat. Following app play (ABMT versus placebo), subjective anxiety and stress responses (observed and self-reported) were measured. ABMT, versus placebo, resulted in improved behavioral performance during the stress task for females, and in potentiation of the N2 ERP to threat for males, suggesting increased attention control. Training groups did not differ in self-reported anxiety. ABMT also resulted in improved performance during the stress task among those evidencing specific pre-training ERP responses: decreased P1, suggesting less attention allocation, but potentiated N170, suggesting enhanced attention selection and discrimination. Differences in behavioral threat bias did not moderate training effects. Results suggest that efficient allocation of attention to threat combined with enhanced discrimination between threat and non-threat may facilitate stress-reduction effects of ABMT. Targeting neurocognitive responses to threat to personalize ABMT and develop more effective methods of treatment delivery, such as gamification, are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.brat.2015.12.008
DO - 10.1016/j.brat.2015.12.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 26745621
AN - SCOPUS:84960876181
VL - 77
SP - 105
EP - 117
JO - Behavioral Assessment
JF - Behavioral Assessment
SN - 0005-7967
ER -