@article{WieserReichertsJuravleetal.2016,
  author    = {Wieser, Matthias J. and Reicherts, Philipp and Juravle, Georgiana and von Leupoldt, Andreas},
  title     = {Attention mechanisms during predictable and unpredictable threat - a steady-state visual evoked potential approach},
  series = {NeuroImage},
  volume    = {139},
  journal   = {NeuroImage},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.06.026},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187365},
  pages     = {167-175},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Fear is elicited by imminent threat and leads to phasic fear responses with selective attention, whereas anxiety is characterized by a sustained state of heightened vigilance due to uncertain danger. In the present study, we investigated attention mechanisms in fear and anxiety by adapting the NPU-threat test to measure steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs). We investigated ssVEPs across no aversive events (N), predictable aversive events (P), and unpredictable aversive events (U), signaled by four-object arrays (30 s). In addition, central cues were presented during all conditions but predictably signaled imminent threat only during the P condition. Importantly, cues and context events were flickered at different frequencies (15 Hz vs. 20 Hz) in order to disentangle respective electrocortical responses. The onset of the context elicited larger electrocortical responses for U compared to P context. Conversely, P cues elicited larger electrocortical responses compared to N cues. Interestingly, during the presence of the P cue, visuocortical processing of the concurrent context was also enhanced. The results support the notion of enhanced initial hypervigilance to unpredictable compared to predictable threat contexts, while predictable cues show electrocortical enhancement of the cues themselves but additionally a boost of context processing.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StoeckelEsserGameretal.2016,
  author    = {Stoeckel, M. Cornelia and Esser, Roland W. and Gamer, Matthias and B{\"u}chel, Christian and von Leupoldt, Andreas},
  title     = {Brain Responses during the Anticipation of Dyspnea},
  series = {Neural Plasticity},
  volume    = {2016},
  journal   = {Neural Plasticity},
  number    = {6434987},
  doi       = {10.1155/2016/6434987},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166238},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Dyspnea is common in many cardiorespiratory diseases. Already the anticipation of this aversive symptom elicits fear in many patients resulting in unfavorable health behaviors such as activity avoidance and sedentary lifestyle. This study investigated brain mechanisms underlying these anticipatory processes. We induced dyspnea using resistive-load breathing in healthy subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Blocks of severe and mild dyspnea alternated, each preceded by anticipation periods. Severe dyspnea activated a network of sensorimotor, cerebellar, and limbic areas. The left insular, parietal opercular, and cerebellar cortices showed increased activation already during dyspnea anticipation. Left insular and parietal opercular cortex showed increased connectivity with right insular and anterior cingulate cortex when severe dyspnea was anticipated, while the cerebellum showed increased connectivity with the amygdala. Notably, insular activation during dyspnea perception was positively correlated with midbrain activation during anticipation. Moreover, anticipatory fear was positively correlated with anticipatory activation in right insular and anterior cingulate cortex. The results demonstrate that dyspnea anticipation activates brain areas involved in dyspnea perception. The involvement of emotion-related areas such as insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdala during dyspnea anticipation most likely reflects anticipatory fear and might underlie the development of unfavorable health behaviors in patients suffering from dyspnea.},
  language  = {en}
}