An fMRI-based neuromarker for anxious anticipation of threat under uncertainty

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Abstract Submission 

Benjamin Becker¹, Feng Zhou², Xiqin Liu³

¹The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ²Southwest University, Chongqing , China, ³Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

Benjamin Becker  
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Feng Zhou  
Southwest University
Chongqing , China

Xiqin Liu  
Sichuan University
Chengdu, China

Uncertainty about potential future threats and the associated anxious anticipation represents a key neurocognitive mechanism of anxiety. While anxiety serves an important adaptive function and allows to avoid or cope with potential danger excessive anxious anticipation under uncertainty represents a key symptom of anxiety disorders. Despite a number or previous fMRI studies that combined threat anticipation paradigms with conventional fMRI a comprehensive and accurate architecture for the subjective experience of anxious anticipation has not been established.

The present study developed a novel uncertain shock paradigm that allowed a precise modulation of the level of momentary anxious arousal during fMRI and capitalized on recent progress in multivariate predictive modelling. The decoder was developed and tested in a series of task-based fMRI studies including training, test and generalization datasets. A series of further fMRI studies as well as analyses utilizing publicly available datasets was employed to further demonstrate the robustness and specificity of the neurofunctional signature.

The 'shock uncertainty-induced threat anticipation signature' (SUITAS) was predictive of the level of uncertainty-induced experience of anxious arousal on the population and individual level. The signature showed a robust prediction in the training sample (n = 44) as well as the validation sample (n = 30) and an independent prospective generalization data-set (n = 50). The SUITAS was not – or less – sensitive to associated processes such as pain, anticipation, as well as unspecific negative emotional and autonomic arousal. Further comparison with established decoders for fear (Zhou et al., 2021) and negative affect (Chang et al., 2015) underscore that anxious anticipation relies on distributed neural representation that is (partly) distinct from the representations of these processes.

The sensitive, generalizable, and specific neuromarker for subjective anxious arousal experienced during uncertain threat anticipation may facilitate model development and clinical translation (Liu et al., 2023).

Emotional Perception ¹

Activation (eg. BOLD task-fMRI) ²

Anxiety

Computational Neuroscience

Emotions

FUNCTIONAL MRI

Multivariate