No abstract

No abstract

Social anxiety is associated with biased social perception, especially of ambiguous cues. While aberrations in high‐level processes (e.g., cognitive appraisal and interpretation) have been implicated in such biases, contributions of early, low‐level stimulus processing remain unclear. Categorical perception represents an efficient process to resolve signal ambiguity, and categorical emotion perception can swiftly classify sensory input, “tagging” biologically important stimuli at early stages of processing to facilitate ecological response. However, early threat categorization could be disrupted by exaggerated (or disinhibited) threat processing in anxiety, resulting in biased perception of ambiguous signals. We tested this hypothesis among individuals with low and high trait social anxiety (LSA/HSA; defined relative to the current sample), who performed a two‐alternative forced‐choice (fear or neutral) task on facial expressions parametrically varied along a neutral‐fear continuum. The groups diverged in the reaction time (RT) profile along the neutral‐fear continuum, which was characteristic of categorical perception in the LSA (vs. HSA) group with drastically increased RT from neutral to intermediate (boundary) fear intensities, contrasting monotonic, nonsignificant RT changes in the HSA group. Neurometric analysis along the continuum identified an early neutral‐fear categorization operation (arising in the P1, an early visual ERP at 100 ms), which was nonetheless impaired in the HSA group (due to disinhibited response at the neutral‐fear boundary). Absent group differences in higher‐level cognitive operations (identified by later ERPs), current findings highlight a dispositional cognitive vulnerability in early visual categorization of social threat, which could precipitate further cognitive aberrations and, eventually, the onset of social anxiety disorder.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the P300 event-related potential, neuropsychological measures of memory, subjective memory complaints (SMCs), and indicators of psychosocial functioning. Design, setting, and participants: In this cross-sectional study of 79 community-based older adults, aged 60–75 years, participants completed online surveys and in-person neuropsychological and electroencephalogram (EEG) assessments. Measurements: Measures included: the Change subscale of the Metamemory in Adulthood Questionnaire, NIH Toolbox Emotions battery (Perceived Stress and Psychological Well-Being), Geriatric Depression Scale, Geriatric Anxiety Scale, electrocortical measures (EEG), California Verbal Learning Test, 3rd Edition, and diagnostic ratings for mild and major neurocognitive disorders based on full neuropsychological battery, clinical interview, and two-clinician consensus. Results: P300 amplitude was associated with long-delay verbal memory recall and diagnostic rating. SMCs were not associated with objective memory or diagnostic rating. SMCs were associated with higher perceived stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms and lower psychological well-being. Conclusions: Neural indicators such as the P300 may be useful for early detection of cognitive impairment. SMCs were not a reliable indicator of early memory impairment in relation to neuropsychological or neural indicators, but may be a useful indicator of unreported stress and mood symptoms in clinical settings.

No abstract