heart rate

Electrocortical Responses in Anticipation of Avoidable and Inevitable Threats: A Multisite Study

In response to avoidable danger, organisms often exhibit freezing-like behavior. Recent research suggests that freezing is not merely a passive response but involves a state of attentive immobility aimed at enhancing threat avoidance and perception. However, the attentional mechanisms involved in response to avoidable threats at the level of the brain remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we employed EEG, eye-tracking, and measurements of autonomic activity. Our findings revealed a suppression of EEG alpha power, along with cardiac deceleration, reduced eye-movements, and heightened sympathetic activity during the anticipation of avoidable threats. Moreover, this response pattern was predictive of motor response times. These results underscore the significance of heightened perceptual processing during freezing-like behavior in humans.

Aversive contexts enhance defensive responses to conditioned threat

This study investigated how potential and acute threat states interact by examining physiological and subjective responses to fear cues in different contextual settings. Results showed that inherently aversive contexts amplified defensive responses more than conditioned contexts, highlighting the additive nature of threat processing.