Citation

Costa VD, Bradley MM, Lang PJ. Psychophysiology 2014; 52(3): 325-332.

Affiliation

Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA; National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Society for Psychophysiological Research, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/psyp.12359

PMID

25250656

Abstract

Cues that signal the possibility of receiving an electric shock reliably induce defensive activation. To determine whether cues can also easily reverse defensive reactions, a threat reversal paradigm was developed in which a cue signaling threat of shock reversed its meaning across the course of the study. This allowed us to contrast defensive reactions to threat cues that became safe cues, with responses to cues that continued to signal threat or safety.

RESULTS showed that, when participants were instructed that a previously threatening cue now signaled safety, there was an immediate and complete attenuation of defensive reactions compared to threat cues that maintained their meaning. These findings highlight the role that language can play both in instantiating and attenuating defensive reactions, with implications for understanding emotion regulation, social communication, and clinical phenomena.

Language: en