Anxiety Shapes Amygdala-Prefrontal Dynamics During Movie Watching

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Anxiety Shapes Amygdala-Prefrontal Dynamics During Movie Watching

Kirk, Peter A; Holmes, Avram J; Robinson, Oliver J; (2023) Anxiety Shapes Amygdala-Prefrontal Dynamics During Movie Watching. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science , 3 (3) pp. 409-417. 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.03.009. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: A well-characterized amygdala–dorsomedial prefrontal circuit is thought to be crucial for threat vigilance during anxiety. However, engagement of this circuitry within relatively naturalistic paradigms remains unresolved. // Methods: Using an open functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset (Cambridge Centre for Ageing Neuroscience; n = 630), we sought to investigate whether anxiety correlates with dynamic connectivity between the amygdala and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during movie watching. // Results: Using an intersubject representational similarity approach, we saw no effect of anxiety when comparing pairwise similarities of dynamic connectivity across the entire movie. However, preregistered analyses demonstrated a relationship between anxiety, amygdala-prefrontal dynamics, and anxiogenic features of the movie (canonical suspense ratings). Our results indicated that amygdala-prefrontal circuitry was modulated by suspense in low-anxiety individuals but was less sensitive to suspense in high-anxiety individuals. We suggest that this could also be related to slowed habituation or amplified anticipation. Moreover, a measure of threat-relevant attentional bias (accuracy/reaction time to fearful faces) demonstrated an association with connectivity and suspense. // Conclusions: Overall, this study demonstrated the presence of anxiety-relevant differences in connectivity during movie watching, varying with anxiogenic features of the movie. Mechanistically, exactly how and when these differences arise remains an opportunity for future research.

Type:	Article
Title:	Anxiety Shapes Amygdala-Prefrontal Dynamics During Movie Watching
Open access status:	An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI:	10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.03.009
Publisher version:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.03.009
Language:	English
Additional information:	Copyright © 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords:	Amygdala; Anxiety; fMRI; Naturalistic; Vigilance
UCL classification:	UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
URI:	https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10174487