Christian Grillon

2 papers in the library · 10 citations · publishing 2021-2024

Papers

Attenuation of Anxiety-Potentiated Startle After Treatment With Escitalopram or Mindfulness Meditation in Anxiety Disorders.

Biological Psychiatry January 1, 2024 Elizabeth A Hoge, Caroline H Armstrong, Mihriye Mete et al. 10 citations

Anxiety disorders are linked to heightened startle responses during unpredictable threat, a physiological marker called anxiety-potentiated startle (APS). In a study of 93 individuals with anxiety disorders and 66 healthy controls, APS was higher in the anxious group at baseline. After eight weeks of treatment with either escitalopram or mindfulness-based stress reduction, both treatment groups showed significantly greater reductions in APS compared to controls, with patients' APS levels falling into the range of healthy individuals. Fear-potentiated startle (FPS), a response to predictable threat, did not differ between groups at baseline nor change with treatment. These results validate APS as a biological correlate of pathological anxiety and provide evidence that mindfulness-based stress reduction can alter anxiety-related neurocircuitry similarly to medication.

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.06.003 Full text Anxiety-potentiated startle Escitalopram Fear-potentiated startle Mindfulness meditation +2

Responding to uncertain threat: A potential mediator for the effect of mindfulness on anxiety.

Journal of Anxiety Disorders January 1, 2021 Inka Papenfuss, Miriam J. J. Lommen, Christian Grillon et al.

People who are more mindful tend to report less anxiety, and this relationship is partly explained by lower intolerance of uncertainty (IU). In a study of 53 healthy adults, participants completed self-report measures of mindfulness, anxiety, and IU, and also underwent a threat-of-shock task (NPU-threat test) that measured physiological and subjective responses to uncertain threat. IU mediated the effect of mindfulness on some anxiety symptoms. However, physiological and subjective reactions to uncertain threat were largely unrelated to mindfulness, anxiety, or IU. The findings suggest that reactions to uncertainty may help explain how mindfulness reduces anxiety, but the laboratory threat measure did not capture this link.

DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102332 Full text Anxiety Mindfulness Intolerance of uncertainty Mediation +2