Abstract
Unveiling the Dynamics of Sustained Attention in Contextual Threat. Insights from Steady-State VEPs Elicited by Flickering Video Stimuli. Detecting threat in ever-changing environments is crucial for adaptive behavior in animals, including humans. Accordingly, when exploring potentially threatening environments, behavioral dispositions are often characterized by a state of heightened vigilance, to facilitate rapid detection of potentially dangerous situations. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying hypervigilance remain largely unexplored. A suitable means to induce anxiety experimentally is context conditioning. In one context (CTX+), an unpredictable aversive stimulus (US) is repeatedly presented, in contrast to a second context (CTX−), in which no US is ever presented. Here we present an EEG study, that examined the neural correlates of sustained attention in 38 participants subjected to a context conditioning paradigm. Flickering video stimuli were used to evoke steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs) as an index of visuocortical engagement. Analysis of electrocortical responses revealed successful induction of the ssVEP signal by the flickering video presentations. Additionally, we observed clear indices of context conditioning and extinction learning on a subjective level, while cortical processing of the CTX+ was unexpectedly reduced during video presentation. The differences between CTX+ and CTX− diminished during extinction learning. Together, these results indicate that the dynamic sensory input of the video presentation leads to disruptions in the ssVEP signal, which is greater for motivationally significant, threatening contexts.
Yannik Stegmann
Scientific Researcher
My research interests include fear, anxiety and anxiety disorders, as well as how aversive learning shapes perception.