Verbal threat learning does not spare loved ones

Cristina Morato,Florian Bublatzky,Pedro Guerra

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-84921-3

Abstract

Significant others provide individuals with a sense of safety and security. However, the mechanisms that underlie attachment-induced safety are hardly understood. Recent research has shown beneficial effects when viewing pictures of the romantic partner, leading to reduced pain experience and defensive responding. Building upon this, we examined the inhibitory capacity of loved face pictures on fear learning in an instructed threat paradigm. Pictures of loved familiar or unknown individuals served as signals for either threat of electric shocks or safety, while a broad set of psychophysiological measures was recorded. We assumed that a long-term learning history of beneficial relations interferes with social threat learning. Nevertheless, results yielded a typical pattern of physiological defense activation towards threat cues, regardless of whether threat was signaled by an unknown or a loved face. These findings call into question the notion that pictures of loved individuals are shielded against becoming threat cues, with implications for attachment and trauma research.

Highlights

Significant others provide individuals with a sense of safety and security
As predicted, instructed threat cues were more threatening than safety cues in the instantiation block, Cue F(1,35) = 23.22, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.40, and unknown faces more threatening than loved faces, Face Category F(1,35) = 34.01, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.49
The present study examined whether pictures of significant others—the romantic partner, parents, or best friends—are more resistant to becoming threat cues than pictures of unknown people[20]

Summary

Introduction

Significant others provide individuals with a sense of safety and security. the mechanisms that underlie attachment-induced safety are hardly understood. Results yielded a typical pattern of physiological defense activation towards threat cues, regardless of whether threat was signaled by an unknown or a loved face These findings call into question the notion that pictures of loved individuals are shielded against becoming threat cues, with implications for attachment and trauma research. A previously neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus, CS) acquires an affective value by being paired with an appetitive or aversive event (e.g., electric shock serving as unconditioned stimulus, UCS) This association leads to conditioned responses to the CS when it is presented alone, as reflected by enhanced autonomic arousal, primed defensive reflexive motor responses, and activation of a neural fear network (e.g., amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex)[16]. We examined the impact of verbal threat/safety learning while viewing loved and unknown faces serving as instructed cues for shock threat or safety. Instructional learning was used to Scientific Reports | (2021) 11:5469

Methods

Results

Conclusion