Abstract
Despite the scientific consensus on the efficacy of psychotherapy for the treatment of psychological disorders, the evidence of treatment-related changes towards normalization of abnormal brain functions in patients is mixed. In the present experiment, we investigated whether treatment can affect early information processing, by testing abnormal event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by internal and external signals in panic disorder. Sixteen patients with panic disorder and comorbid personality disorder and sixteen control participants performed a response-choice task and a passive viewing task in two testing sessions, separated by around 14 months. During this period, patients received psychological treatment. In agreement with previous studies of performance monitoring, the abnormal amplitude of the Ne/ERN–an index of error processing based on internal signals—did not change between the first and second testing session. However, treatment-related changes were evident for the abnormal vertex positive potential (VPP) evoked by external signals in the response-choice task and the passive viewing task. In patients, the VPP was smaller in the second session compared to the first session, whereas no significant changes occurred in controls. This result supplies evidence of treatment-related changes towards normalization in the early information processing of external visual stimuli in panic disorder.
Highlights
Psychotherapy is a conventional treatment of many psychological disorders
In agreement with previous studies of error processing in internalization psychopathologies, compared to control participants, patients presented a larger negative error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) evoked by the monitoring of errors based on internal signals
Contrary to previous performance monitoring studies that analyzed exclusively the processing of errors based on internal signals, we focused on the processing of external signals, indexed by the vertex positive potential (VPP), and extended the investigation to the passive viewing of faces or houses
Summary
Psychotherapy is a conventional treatment of many psychological disorders. it is still unclear whether and how the positive effects of psychological interventions on the well-being of patients correspond to significant changes in brain functioning. In major depressive disorder, a psychological intervention seems to be effective in normalizing the brain activity evoked by emotional stimuli Despite this recent study, the evidence of further significant changes of abnormal electrophysiological responses is still insufficient, regarding the early processing of internal and external stimuli. The present experiment aimed to investigate the potential effects of treatment on the analysis of errors based on internal signals and the processing of visual material, such as feedback in the response-choice task or pictures in the passive viewing task. In agreement with previous studies on the perception of external stimuli [2,3,4], we expected to find significant normalization of the augmented VPP in patients in both the response-choice task and the passive viewing task, as an indication of a treatment-related change of early information processing of visual material. Treatment and external signal processing a more suitable electrophysiological marker for studying treatment-induced changes of abnormal brain functioning in patients
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