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Project

How anxiety transforms human cognition: an Affective Neuroscience perspective (Anxiety & Cognition)

Anxiety, a state of apprehension or fear, may provoke cognitive or behavioural disorders and eventually lead to serious medical illnesses. The high prevalence of anxiety disorders in our society sharply contrasts with the lack of clear factual knowledge about the corresponding brain mechanisms at the origin of this profound change in the appraisal of the environment. Little is known about how the psychopathological state of anxiety ultimately turns to a medical condition. The core of this proposal is to gain new insight in the neural underpinnings of anxiety and disorders related to anxiety using modern human brain-imaging such as scalp electro-encephalogram(EEG) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging(fMRI). I propose to enlighten how anxiety transforms and shapes human cognition and what the neural correlates and time-course of this modulatory effect are. The primary innocation of this project is the systematic use scalp EEG and fMRI in human participants to better understand the neural mechanisms by which anxiety profoundly influences specific cognitive functions, in particular selective attention and decision-making. The goal of this proposal is to precisely determine the exact timing (using scalp EEG), location, size and extent (using fMRI) of anxiety-related modulations on selective attention and decision-making in the human brain.

Date:1 Nov 2008 →  31 Oct 2013
Keywords:anxiety
Disciplines:Psychiatry and psychotherapy, Other paramedical sciences, Clinical and counselling psychology, Other psychology and cognitive sciences, Nursing