The role of medication use and state anxiety on the cognitive components of emotional facial processing: An Event-Related Potentials Study
Date
2020-06-05
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Abstract
High levels of anxiety have been associated with a cognitive bias towards threat, impacting
attention and emotional facial processes as evidenced at the electrophysiological level from EventRelated Potentials (ERP). This threat-bias can be attenuated by reducing anxiety with Selective
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI), but the relationship between anxiety, psychotropic
medications, and attentional resources remains a relatively unexplored area. The current study
therefore aimed to examine the impact of anxiety reducing SSRI medication on emotional facial
processing by comparing individuals with high and low anxiety and differing medication levels.
Participants (n = 50) completed a Rapid Serial Visualization Presentation and were asked to
identify emotional facial expressions while ERP and accuracy were recorded. Results suggest
SSRIs have an overall emotional attenuation on facial processing. ERP results revealed all
participants displayed a dominant early positive bias, with the threat-bias associated with high
anxiety originating exclusively in later cognitive components of facial processing.
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Keywords
Anxiety, Attention, Emotional Facial Processing, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, Event-Related Potentials