Science of Emotion and Sensibility (감성과학)

Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility (한국감성과학회)
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Frontal Theta/Beta Ratio Predicts Attentional Bias to Threat In Individuals with High Social Anxiety

고 사회 불안 성인의 위협 자극에 대한 주의 편향 및 전두 영역 Theta-Beta Ratio (TBR) 패턴

  • Nayun Kwon ;
  • So-Yeon Kim
  • 권나연 (덕성여자대학교 일반대학원 인지 발달 및 발달장애 심리학과) ;
  • 김소연 (덕성여자대학교 심리학과)
  • Received : 2024.08.10
  • Accepted : 2024.09.02
  • Published : 2024.09.30
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Abstract

Individuals with high social anxiety (HSA) exhibit an excessive bias toward socially threatening stimuli. The purpose of this study is to identify attentional bias patterns toward threat stimuli in people with HSA (but not those with social anxiety disorder, SAD). Furthermore, our goal was to investigate neural biomarkers that can predict these attentional bias patterns in people with HSA. We collected and analyzed behavioral data on attentional bias patterns, anxiety levels, social anxiety levels, and the frontal region theta/beta ratio using an electroencephalogram (EEG) from 33 neurotypical female adults. For analysis, we divide participants into two categories: (1) HSA and (2) low social anxiety (LSA). The results showed that both the HSA and LSA groups had an initial attentional bias toward emotional faces, but only the HSA group had a prolonged attentional bias toward angry faces. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation was found between the attentional bias score and the social anxiety score. Additionally, a decreased theta/beta ratio significantly explained the degree of attention bias in the HSA group and was a significant predictor of attentional bias in this group. Overall, this study finds that individuals with HSA exhibit similar patterns of attentional bias to those found in patients with SAD, as identified in previous research. Moreover, the findings suggest that a decreased frontal theta/beta ratio is associated with excessive attentional biases in HSA individuals. These findings contribute to our understanding of the behavioral and neurological pathophysiology associated with high levels of social anxiety, potentially assisting in the development of appropriate evaluation methods and the determination of the effect of the treatment intervention.

높은 사회 불안을 보이는 사람들은 사회적으로 위협적인 자극에 대한 과도한 주의 편향을 보이는 특징이 있다. 본 연구에서는 고 사회 불안 성인에게서 특징적으로 나타나는 위협 자극에 대한 주의 편향 패턴을 확인하고, 이러한 주의 편향 패턴을 예측할 수 있는 신경 생체 지표를 확인하고자 하였다. 이를 위해, 33명의 정상 여성 성인을 대상으로 주의 편향 패턴, 기질/상태 불안 수준, 사회 불안 수준, 전두 영역의 세타/베타 비(TBR)를 수집하였으며, 참가자를 고 사회 불안(HSA)과 저 사회 불안(LSA)집단으로 나누어 분석하였다. 그 결과, HSA와 LSA 모두 정서적 얼굴에 대한 유의미한 초기 주의편향을 보였으나, 위협적 얼굴에 대한 지속적인 주의편향은 HSA 집단에서만 나타났다. 또한, 주의 편향 점수와 사회 불안 점수 간의 유의미한 정적 상관관계를 확인하였으며, 감소된 TBR이 HSA 집단의 주의 편향 수준을 유의미하게 설명하는 예측 요인임을 확인하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 고 사회 불안 성인의 높은 사회불안 수준과 관련된 주의 편향 양상 및 신경 생체 지표를 확인하고, 적절한 평가 방법 개발 및 치료 개입의 효과를 예측하는 등의 병태 생리에 기여할 수 있음을 시사한다.

Keywords

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