Verbal threat learning does not spare loved ones
Metadatos
Afficher la notice complèteEditorial
Springer Nature
Date
2021-03-09Referencia bibliográfica
Morato, C., Guerra, P. & Bublatzky, F. Verbal threat learning does not spare loved ones. Sci Rep 11, 5469 (2021). [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84921-3]
Patrocinador
German Research Foundation (DFG) BU 3255/1-1 BU 3255/1-2Résumé
Significant others provide individuals with a sense of safety and security. However, the mechanisms
that underlie attachment-induced safety are hardly understood. Recent research has shown beneficial
effects when viewing pictures of the romantic partner, leading to reduced pain experience and
defensive responding. Building upon this, we examined the inhibitory capacity of loved face pictures
on fear learning in an instructed threat paradigm. Pictures of loved familiar or unknown individuals
served as signals for either threat of electric shocks or safety, while a broad set of psychophysiological
measures was recorded. We assumed that a long-term learning history of beneficial relations
interferes with social threat learning. Nevertheless, results yielded a typical pattern of physiological
defense activation towards threat cues, regardless of whether threat was signaled by an unknown or
a loved face. These findings call into question the notion that pictures of loved individuals are shielded
against becoming threat cues, with implications for attachment and trauma research.