Fear in the Theater of the Mind: Differential Fear Conditioning With Imagined Stimuli

Burleigh, Lauryn; Jiang, Xinrui; Greening, Steven G.

doi:10.1177/09567976221086513

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…While participants displayed increased experienced disgust in response to naturalistic compared to pictorial nauseating stimuli, there was no significant difference in imagined discomfort between naturalistic and pictorial stimuli. Since they were specifically asked to picture themselves interacting with the stimuli, this difference in results could be explained by the fact that participants were similarly good in imagining an interaction with the stimulus material regardless of mode of presentation thus leading to no difference in imagined discomfort ( 49 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ewww–Investigating the neural basis of disgust in response to naturalistic and pictorial nauseating stimuli

et al. 2023

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Emotion induction in psychological and neuroscientific research has been mostly done by presenting participants with picture or film material. However, it is debatable whether this passive approach to emotion induction results in an affective state comparable to real-life emotions, and if the neural correlates of emotion processing are ecologically valid. To investigate the appropriateness of pictures for the induction of emotions, we presented 56 participants in a within-subjects design with naturalistic disgusting and neutral stimuli as well as with pictures of said stimulus material while recording continuous EEG data. We calculated asymmetry indices (AIs) for alpha power as an index of emotion processing and emotion regulation at the F3/4, F5/6, F7/8, and O1/2 electrode pairs. Participants reported higher disgust ratings for disgusting naturalistic compared to disgusting pictorial stimuli. Investigating changes in the EEG signal in participants with a pronounced disgust response (n = 38), we found smaller AIs for naturalistic stimuli compared to pictures. Moreover, in this disgusted sub-sample, there were smaller AIs in response to naturalistic disgusting stimuli compared to pictorial disgusting and neutral stimuli at the O1/2 electrode pair indicating stronger activation of the right relative to the left hemisphere by naturalistic stimuli. As the right hemisphere has been shown to display dominance in processing negative and withdrawal-associated emotions, this might indicate that naturalistic stimuli are more appropriate for the induction of emotions than picture stimuli. To improve the validity of results from emotion induction, future research should incorporate stimulus material that is as naturalistic as possible.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ewww–Investigating the neural basis of disgust in response to naturalistic and pictorial nauseating stimuli

et al. 2023

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“…Specifically, this work shows that an imagined stimulus, such as the static image of a simple blue circle, is capable of acquiring a CR when co-occurring alongside an aversive stimulus, such as a shock 30,32,33 ;…”

Section: How Does Emotional Imagination Alter Cognition and Behavior?mentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The work by Paulus and colleagues 21,28 dovetails nicely with a distinct literature that uses static imagery approaches (i.e., imagining a single stimulus as opposed to an unfolding episode). In these studies, researchers have shown the power of imagination as a stand-in for external input in the context of fear conditioning; as Burleigh et al 30 put it, "fear in the theater of the mind" (also see a seminal paper by Dadds et al) 31 In short, imagination is strong enough to produce fear conditioning effects.…”

Section: How Does Emotional Imagination Alter Cognition and Behavior?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The efficacy of extinction can be assessed via return of fear, which is how easily a CR reoccurs following extinction. 30,[32][33][34][35][36][37]39,40 Effective extinction hinders return of fear, reducing the readiness of a stimulus to re-express an extinguished CR. Evidence suggests that, indeed, imagination can be used to extinguish previously acquired fear responses (measured via skin conductance 12,13,[41][42][43] ).…”

Section: F I G U R Ementioning

confidence: 99%

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Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition

Cocquyt

Palombo

2023

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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In a complex world, we are constantly faced with environmental stimuli that shape our moment‐to‐moment experiences. But just as rich and complex as the external world is the internal milieu—our imagination. Imagination offers a powerful vehicle for playing out hypothetical experiences in the mind's eye. It allows us to mentally time travel to behold what the future might bring, including our greatest desires or fears. Indeed, imagined experiences tend to be emotion‐laden. How and why are humans capable of this remarkable feat? Based on psychological findings, we highlight the importance of imagination for emotional aspects of cognition and behavior, namely in the generation and regulation of emotions. Based on recent cognitive neuroscience work, we identify putative neural networks that are most critical for emotional imagination, with a major focus on the default mode network. Finally, we briefly highlight the possible functional implications of individual differences in imagination. Overall, we hope to address why humans have the capacity to simulate hypothetical emotional experiences and how this ability can be harnessed in adaptive (and sometimes maladaptive) ways. We end by discussing open questions.

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“…These voluntary mental images utilize similar neural representations to visual working memory ( 84 ) and perception ( 85 ). In fact, the mechanisms are shared so intimately that perceptual learning and fear conditioning can occur from purely imagined content ( 86 , 87 ). This imagery is also known to directly influence conscious perception.…”

Section: Ptsd Intrusions As Visual Imagery Dysfunction?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A generative adversarial model of intrusive imagery in the human brain

et al. 2023

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The mechanisms underlying the subjective experiences of mental disorders remain poorly understood. This is partly due to long-standing over-emphasis on behavioral and physiological symptoms and a de-emphasis of the patient's subjective experiences when searching for treatments. Here we provide a new perspective on the subjective experience of mental disorders based on findings in neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI). Specifically, we propose the subjective experience that occurs in visual imagination depends on mechanisms similar to generative adversarial networks that have recently been developed in AI. The basic idea is that a generator network fabricates a prediction of the world, and a discriminator network determines whether it is likely real or not. Given that similar adversarial interactions occur in the two major visual pathways of perception in people, we explored whether we could leverage this AI-inspired approach to better understand the intrusive imagery experiences of patients suffering from mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and acute stress disorder. In our model, a nonconscious visual pathway generates predictions of the environment that influence the parallel but interacting conscious pathway. We propose that in some patients, an imbalance in these adversarial interactions leads to an overrepresentation of disturbing content relative to current reality, and results in debilitating flashbacks. By situating the subjective experience of intrusive visual imagery in the adversarial interaction of these visual pathways, we propose testable hypotheses on novel mechanisms and clinical applications for controlling and possibly preventing symptoms resulting from intrusive imagery.

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Fear in the Theater of the Mind: Differential Fear Conditioning With Imagined Stimuli

Cited by 8 publications

References 52 publications

Ewww–Investigating the neural basis of disgust in response to naturalistic and pictorial nauseating stimuli

Ewww–Investigating the neural basis of disgust in response to naturalistic and pictorial nauseating stimuli

Emotion in the mind's eye: Imagination for adaptive cognition

A generative adversarial model of intrusive imagery in the human brain

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