Panic attacks and interoceptive acuity for cardiac sensations

It has been suggested that perception of visceral changes, and cognitive reactions to such changes, may be important for triggering panic attacks. It remains to be determined, however, whether people with panic attacks are actually characterized by enhanced perceptual acuity for interoceptive stimul...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behaviour research and therapy 1993-02, Vol.31 (2), p.193-197
Main Authors: Asmundson, Gordon J.G., Sandler, Lorna S., Wilson, Keith G., Norton, G.Ron
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Arousal
Attention
Awareness
Biofeedback, Psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Heart Rate
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Neurocirculatory Asthenia - psychology
Panic Disorder - psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It has been suggested that perception of visceral changes, and cognitive reactions to such changes, may be important for triggering panic attacks. It remains to be determined, however, whether people with panic attacks are actually characterized by enhanced perceptual acuity for interoceptive stimuli. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between panic attacks and awareness for cardiac sensations using an objective heartbeat discrimination procedure. Twenty panickers and 20 nonpanickers were given 60 trials of the Whitehead heartbeat discrimination procedure. Thirty trials were given during rest and 30 following hyperventilation. Results indicated that panic attacks were not related to enhanced interoceptive acuity for cardiac sensations, either at rest or following hyperventilation. These results are discussed in terms of their relevance to cognitive models of panic.
ISSN:0005-7967
1873-622X
DOI:10.1016/0005-7967(93)90071-2