Linking basic research on emotion processing with intrusive emotional images in social anxiety – a translational study in social anxiety disorder

• Applicant: Dr. Elisabeth Johanna Leehr
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology ; Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 523716110

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is among the most debilitating mental disorders. The core feature of SAD is the excessive and enduring fear and anxiety in social situations, in which negative evaluation by others is anticipated, resulting in the avoidance of social situations or enduring them with intense fear. Even though there are a number of evidence-based treatments, there is a considerable number (up to 50%) of treatment non-responders in SAD. Despite increasing research interest in SAD, to date there is a gap between basic understanding of relevant pathways, specific symptoms and the development of targeted treatments. General emotion processing is a critical mechanism for mental health. However, significant neuroscientific achievements regarding the investigation of emotion processing in SAD have hardly been linked to social anxiety symptoms so far and are therefore not sufficient for the development of an optimized targeted treatment. Recurrent intrusive social anxiety images, an emotional key process associated with the maintenance of SAD, could be a promising candidate symptom for neurobiological informed, targeted treatment strategies. One promising approach to reduce intrusive images is addressing the memory (re-)consolidation phase of mental images by interfering this phase with an imagery-interfering task, such as a competing visuospatial cognitive task. In SAD there have been no studies investigating the underlying neurobiological correlates of intrusive social anxiety imagery and of its treatment. No study tested the use of visuospatial interference task during the (re-)consolidation phase of mental images to reduce the frequency of social anxiety images in SAD the opportunity we now explore here. Therefore, applying magnetic-resonance imaging as method and a visuo-spatial interference task as intervention, the proposed study rationale comprises the following: A) linking neural correlates of an important emotional symptom in SAD intrusive social anxiety images to neural correlates of emotion processing in SAD, B) investigating the modifiability of intrusive social anxiety images. Referring back to the call of mental health science, the (neuroscientific) understanding of SAD specific symptoms and their linkage to basic neural processes as emotion processing can reveal promising insights into SAD relevant mechanisms and advance the understanding, development and optimization of targeted treatment. Finally, this study could establish an example for the translation of basic neuroscientific achievements into clinical practice.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Sweden
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Emily A. Holmes