Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Anxiety detection and extinction of anxiety-susceptible groups have long been a hot topic of anxiety research. However, the current studies on anxiety detection and extinction lack objective and direct techniques, and are also unclear in terms of the it's functional mechanism. To generate new insight, using a multi-methods approach involving questionnaire, behavior, hormone, and fMRI, the present project aims to explore the mechanism of oxytocin in the detection and extinction of anxiety in individuals with high attachment anxiety. To this end, anxiety detection and extinction are creatively integrated into the framework of oxytocin research with the hope of conducting this project from three aspects. This project aims to provide a new approach to anxiety detection and extinction from the perspective of physiological measurement and pharmacological intervention. Specifically, the details of the research program are as below: Firstly, is there a direct relationship between endogenous oxytocin and anxiety response? To answer this question, Study 1 intends to investigate whether endogenous oxytocin can accurately identify anxiety responses induced by dynamic angry faces, and to clarify the validity of endogenous oxytocin in anxiety detection. We predicted that dynamic angry facial expressions will evoke lower endogenous oxytocin levels than those in static angry and neutral facial expressions during the task period. Secondly, how does oxytocin act on anxiety detection and extinction in individuals with high attachment anxiety? And what is the corresponding brain mechanism? For this purpose, Study 2 design two experiments to explore the neural mechanism of oxytocin in anxiety detection and extinction in individuals with high attachment anxiety from both endogenous and exogenous sources. Experiment 1 mainly focuses on the role of endogenous oxytocin on anxiety detection in individuals with high attachment anxiety, hypothesizing that individuals with high attachment anxiety would exhibit greater amygdala activity and lower endogenous oxytocin levels during the viewing of dynamic angry facial expressions. Experiment 2 mainly focused on the anxiolytic effect of exogenous oxytocin, hypothesizing that intranasal oxytocin will significantly attenuate the amygdala activity during the viewing of dynamic angry facial expressions. Thirdly, whether the effect of oxytocin on anxiety detection in individuals with high attachment anxiety from an intervention perspective could be verified? To further validate the relationship between oxytocin and anxiety response, Study 3 aims to conduct an attachment security intervention for individuals with high attachment anxiety by adopting attachment security priming. During this intervention, the change of endogenous oxytocin and amygdala activation in anxiety response of individuals with high attachment anxiety under intervention training is investigated. Attachment security priming was predicted to significantly attenuate amygdala activity and increase endogenous oxytocin levels during the viewing of dynamic angry facial expressions in individuals with high attachment anxiety. The above three studies were designed to construct a closed-loop of endogenous—exogenous—endogenous to systematically investigate the mechanism of oxytocin in anxiety detection and extinction in individuals with high attachment anxiety. The findings of the project attempt to provide a possible explanation for the mechanism of anxiolytic effects of oxytocin, which is of great scientific implications for understanding the neurohormonal mechanism in the anxiety response. Moreover, the project provides a new approach to anxiety assessment and intervention for high attachment anxiety groups, which is of great value in maintaining and improving the mental health of individuals.
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2019-09-01
Abstract： " Aiming at the cognition processing defects of individuals with insecure attachment, present study aims to explore the plasticity of insecure attachment and it’s neural mechanism by virtue of attachment security priming. The plasticity of insecure attachment is achieved through the cognitive priming techniques which put insecure individuals in a sensitive and supportive environment. Attachment security priming awakens people’s positive attachment experiences, builds new cognitive schema about attachment relationships, finally, realizes the reconstruction of the internal working model of insecure individuals. Using the behavior-physiology-neural techniques, present study systematically investigates the occurrence mechanism and neural basis of the plasticity of insecure attachment through three aspects. First, examining the effect of conscious and unconscious attachment security priming on cognition processing defects of insecure individuals. Second, exploring the effect of repeated attachment security priming on cognition processing defects of insecure individuals. Third, conducting a longitudinal study to track the effect of the repeated attachment security priming. Present study provides a new perspective for the research of insecure attachment. The attachment schema reconstruction theory developed by present study is the verification and development of the secure-base schema theory. In addition, the examination of repeated attachment security priming effect attempts to build an evaluation standard for the plasticity study of insecure attachment. The present study contributes to the intervention training, the promotion of attachment safety, and the maintenance of mental health for insecure attachment.
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