Cortisol-induced enhancement of emotional face processing in social phobia depends on symptom severity and motivational context

• Published in: Biological psychology 2009-05, Vol.81 (2), p.123-130
• Main Authors: van Peer, Jacobien M., Spinhoven, Philip, Dijk, J. Gert van, Roelofs, Karin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Action tendencies; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Analysis of Variance; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Approach–avoidance; Avoidance Learning - drug effects; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cortisol; Double-Blind Method; Electroencephalography - methods; Electrooculography - methods; Emotions - drug effects; Event-related potentials; Evoked Potentials, Visual - drug effects; Facial Expression; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Hydrocortisone - pharmacology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Motivation; Movement - drug effects; Neuropsychological Tests; Pattern Recognition, Visual - drug effects; Phobia; Phobic Disorders - diagnosis; Phobic Disorders - physiopathology; Photic Stimulation - methods; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reaction Time - drug effects; Severity of Illness Index; Social anxiety disorder; Social phobia; Statistics as Topic; Threat processing; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0301-0511; 1873-6246
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.03.006

We investigated the effects of cortisol administration on approach and avoidance tendencies in 20 patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were measured during a reaction time task, in which patients evaluated the emotional expression of photographs of happy and angry faces by making an approaching (flexion) or avoiding (extension) arm movement. Patients showed significant avoidance tendencies for angry but not for happy faces, both in the placebo and cortisol condition. Moreover, ERP analyses showed a significant interaction of condition by severity of social anxiety on early positive (P150) amplitudes during avoidance compared to approach, indicating that cortisol increases early processing of social stimuli (in particular angry faces) during avoidance. This result replicates previous findings from a non-clinical sample of high anxious individuals and demonstrates their relevance for clinical SAD. Apparently the cortisol-induced increase in processing of angry faces in SAD depends on symptom severity and motivational context.