2020
DOI: 10.1017/pen.2020.1
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Differentiating anxiety from fear: an experimental–pharmacological approach

Abstract: Gray’s theory of personality postulates that fear and anxiety are distinct emotional systems with only the latter being sensitive to anxiolytic drugs. His work was mainly based on animal research, and translational studies validating his theory are scarce. Previous work in humans showed an influence of the benzodiazepine lorazepam on both systems, however, dependent on dosage (1 and 2 mg) and personality differences in negative emotionality. The present study aims to replicate these findings, and in addition t… Show more

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Cited by 11 publications
(6 citation statements)
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“…In line with previous experiments that tested the effects of anxiolytics on human defensive behaviour 6,7,13 , our BNC210 results suggest it too affects brain systems that control defensive behaviour. But as in previous research, the detailed pattern of results is not as clear as rodent findings, which show a distinct behavioural/pharmacological division between panic and anxiety, with the former emotion being linked to flight behaviour and the latter to risk assessment 12 .…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 91%
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“…In line with previous experiments that tested the effects of anxiolytics on human defensive behaviour 6,7,13 , our BNC210 results suggest it too affects brain systems that control defensive behaviour. But as in previous research, the detailed pattern of results is not as clear as rodent findings, which show a distinct behavioural/pharmacological division between panic and anxiety, with the former emotion being linked to flight behaviour and the latter to risk assessment 12 .…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 91%
“…Lorazepam reduced Flight Intensity in high scorers on the Tissue Damage Subscale of the Fear Survey Schedule but increased it in low scorers 7 . More recently, in a healthy German cohort studied after data collection ceased for the present experiment, 0.5 mg and 1 mg lorazepam did not affect Flight Intensity, whereas 0.5 mg lorazepam significantly reduced Risk Assessment Intensity relative to placebo but 1 mg lorazepam failed to do so 13 . These findings suggest the relationship between human defensive behaviour Fig.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 52%
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“…In the neurosciences, more biologically oriented personality theories are preferred, e.g., Jeffrey Gray's reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST), which, in its revised form, differentiates between fear and anxiety (Gray and McNaughton, 2000). One of the strongest arguments for this differentiation between fear and anxiety is that only the latter can be influenced by pharmaceutical drugs (i.e., anxiolytic drugs like benzodiazepines), although there is some overlap in the neuroanatomical circuits underpinning the two constructs (McNaughton and Gray, 2000;Lippold et al, 2020). The main differences between these two concepts is that fear represents negative situations we absolutely want to avoid, whereas anxiety is related to negative situations we nonetheless want to approach (e.g., an exam; if we do not engage with the exam, we cannot pass it).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…( 52 ) Against Human Lorazepam has a dose-dependent effect on threat avoidance behavior, not always in line with rodent research Lippold et al. ( 53 ) For Human Lorazepam has dose-dependent effect on risk assessment but no effect on fear Perkins et al. ( 54 ) For Human BNC210 reduces flight intensity but not risk-assessment intensity SAD, social anxiety disorder.…”
Section: Behaviormentioning
confidence: 86%