The role of unpredictability in the perception and Neural Processing of aversive Bodily Symptoms

Unpredictable aversive events are considered to have a larger emotional impact than predictable ones, and to generate more anxiety, stress and fear. Yet, not all evidence in the literature points in that direction, especially in the domain of bodily symptoms such as pain or breathlessness. Several aspects remain yet to be elucidated, including what really makes events unpredictable, the relationship between psychophysiological, neural and behavioral data, the possible cross-links between the experimental and clinical domains as well as the relationships between stimulus characteristics and unpredictability.