Testosterone plays an important role in social threat processing. Recent evidence suggests that testosterone administration has socially anxiolytic effects, but it remains unknown whether this... Show moreTestosterone plays an important role in social threat processing. Recent evidence suggests that testosterone administration has socially anxiolytic effects, but it remains unknown whether this involves early vigilance or later, more sustained, processing-stages. We investigated the acute effects of testosterone administration on social threat processing in 19 female patients with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and 19 healthy controls. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during an emotional Stroop task with subliminally presented faces. Testosterone induced qualitative changes in early ERPs (<200 ms after stimulus onset) in both groups. An initial testosterone-induced spatial shift reflected a change in the basic processing (N170/VPP) of neutral faces, which was followed by a shift for angry faces suggesting a decrease in early threat bias. These findings suggest that testosterone specifically affects early automatic social information processing. The decreased attentional bias for angry faces explains how testosterone can decrease threat avoidance, which is particularly relevant for SAD. Show less
Harrewijn, A.; Schmidt, L.A.; Westenberg, P.M.; Tang, A.; Van der Molen, M.J.W. 2017
The aim of this thesis is to gain insight into the associations between experiences of parental love withdrawal, oxytocin, and asymmetric frontal brain activity (reflecting basic motivational... Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to gain insight into the associations between experiences of parental love withdrawal, oxytocin, and asymmetric frontal brain activity (reflecting basic motivational tendencies) on the one hand, and (neural) processing of and responses to socio-emotional stimuli on the other. The first chapters focus on the neural processing of emotional stimuli, investigating whether experiences of love withdrawal (Chapters 2 and 3) and oxytocin administration (Chapter 3) are related to event-related potential (ERP) responses to emotional facial expressions accompanying feedback, within a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects design. Chapter 4 focuses on behavioral responses to emotionally relevant information: donating money to charity after viewing a video of a child in need. The central question in this chapter is whether asymmetric frontal brain activity, as a measure of approach-withdrawal motivation, predicts charitable donations, and, in addition, the possibility that asymmetric frontal brain activity mediates or moderates effects of oxytocin and parental love withdrawal on donating behavior is explored. Show less
We investigated the role of cortisol (an important stress-hormone) in the regulation of social fear and avoidance behavior in socially anxious individuals, which are characterized by extreme fear... Show moreWe investigated the role of cortisol (an important stress-hormone) in the regulation of social fear and avoidance behavior in socially anxious individuals, which are characterized by extreme fear and avoidance of social situations. Previous studies in animals and children showed a relation between increased fearfulness and avoidance and elevated cortisol levels, but the causal role of cortisol in these processes is not known. We found that, only in high socially anxious participants, cortisol administration or stress induction increased avoidance of social threat on an affect-evaluation computer task. Concurrent event-related potentials (brain activity measured with electrodes on the scalp) showed an associated increase in early processing of social threat. Another experiment indicated that the effects of cortisol on early threat processing are task dependent. We conclude that cortisol increases avoidance and facilitates or inhibits early processing of social threat in an adaptive manner, in line with the task goal. This effect is strongest in high anxious individuals, which are particularly sensitive to these threat signals. This knowledge can be relevant for the treatment of SAD, as cortisol levels may increase during exposure therapy, and also because cortisol administration has recently been proposed as a treatment for this disorder. Show less
