Solving the prefrontal conundrum of high-order anxiety: conciliating HOTEC and hypofrontality. A theoretical review.
Luiz Augusto Rosa
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry November 2018 DOI: 10.1080/13546805.2018.1527217 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Anxiety |
| Keywords | Anterior insula Hotec Neural model Dacc Dmpfc |
| Key points | Argues that the apparent conflict between HOTEC and reports of 'hypofrontality' in anxiety can be resolved by a model in which the dmPFC, dACC, and anterior insula are GNC areas positively correlated with anxiety, working alongside prefrontal regulatory regions to form interconnected anticipatory and regulatory mechanisms tied to learned threats and autobiographical memories. Proposes that HOTEC remains a valid framework for understanding both healthy and unhealthy anxious states. |
Abstract
According to the High-order Theory of Emotional Consciousness (HOTEC), every emotional process is a conscious and high-order state of mind carried out by the General Networks of Cognition (GNC), which consists mainly of prefrontal mechanisms. This means that anxiety is also an emotional state of mind carried out by the GNC (positive correlation). However, numerous studies have suggested what is commonly called "hypofrontality" during states of anxiety (negative correlation), which seems to give rise to a theoretical and empirical contraction. I present a theoretical review to address the following issue: how to advocate a HOTEC view of anxiety in the face of a growing paradigm of hypofrontality during states of anxiety? Here I propose that dmPFC, the dACC, and the anterior insula are GNC areas positively correlated with anxiety, which, along with the prefrontal areas responsible for regulating the activation of survival circuits and driving the attention to adaptive ways to overcome potential threats, form an interconnective model of anticipatory and regulatory mechanisms related to learned threats based on autobiographical memories. Through this model, I propose that HOTEC is still a valid way to approach and understand both healthy and unhealthy anxious states of mind.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychedelics as Medicines: An Emerging New Paradigm General population | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Learning to Let Go: A Cognitive-Behavioral Model of How Psychedelic Therapy Promotes Acceptance | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Taking Psychedelics Seriously | 2018 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How could MDMA (ecstasy) help anxiety disorders? A neurobiological rationale | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Embedding existential psychology within psychedelic science: reduced death anxiety as a mediator of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics | 2019 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- Functional dissociation of ventral frontal and dorsomedial default mode network components during resting state and emotional autobiographical recall Human Brain Mapping November 6, 2013
- The subjective experience of emotion: a fearful view. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences November 16, 2017
- A higher-order theory of emotional consciousness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences February 15, 2017
- How do you feel--now? The anterior insula and human awareness. Nature reviews. Neuroscience 2009