Pharmacology of human experimental anxiety
Braz. j. med. biol. res
;
36(4): 421-432, Apr. 2003. tab, graf
Artículo
en Inglés
| LILACS
| ID: lil-331238
ABSTRACT
This review covers the effect of drugs affecting anxiety using four psychological procedures for inducing experimental anxiety applied to healthy volunteers and patients with anxiety disorders. The first is aversive conditioning of the skin conductance responses to tones. The second is simulated public speaking, which consists of speaking in front of a video camera, with anxiety being measured with psychometric scales. The third is the Stroop Color-Word test, in which words naming colors are painted in the same or in a different shade, the incongruence generating a cognitive conflict. The last test is a human version of a thoroughly studied animal model of anxiety, fear-potentiated startle, in which the eye-blink reflex to a loud noise is recorded. The evidence reviewed led to the conclusion that the aversive conditioning and potentiated startle tests are based on classical conditioning of anticipatory anxiety. Their sensitivity to benzodiazepine anxiolytics suggests that these models generate an emotional state related to generalized anxiety disorder. On the other hand, the increase in anxiety determined by simulated public speaking is resistant to benzodiazepines and sensitive to drugs affecting serotonergic neurotransmission. This pharmacological profile, together with epidemiological evidence indicating its widespread prevalence, suggests that the emotional state generated by public speaking represents a species-specific response that may be related to social phobia and panic disorder. Because of scant pharmacological data, the status of the Stroop Color-Word test remains uncertain. In spite of ethical and economic constraints, human experimental anxiety constitutes a valuable tool for the study of the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders
Texto completo:
Disponible
Índice:
LILACS (Américas)
Asunto principal:
Ansiedad
/
Escala de Ansiedad ante Pruebas
/
Ansiolíticos
Tipo de estudio:
Factores de riesgo
Límite:
Humanos
Idioma:
Inglés
Revista:
Braz. j. med. biol. res
Asunto de la revista:
Biologia
/
Medicina
Año:
2003
Tipo del documento:
Artículo
País de afiliación:
Brasil
Institución/País de afiliación:
Universidade de São Paulo/BR
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