Abstract

SANCHEZ NAVARRO, Juan Pedro  and  MARTINEZ SELVA, José María. Peripheral physiological reactivity and brain activity in specific phobias. Escritos de Psicología [online]. 2009, vol.3, n.1, pp.43-54. ISSN 1989-3809.

Specific phobias are exaggerated and irrational fears caused by specific stimuli. These anxiety disorders can appear together with physiological reactions and fight or flight responses. At a peripheral level the phobic response is featured by an increase in somatic and autonomic reactivity as shown by different physiological indices (heart rate, electrodermal activity) and a potentiation of defensive reflexes, such as the cardiac defense response and the blink reflex. At a central level it has been described a network of brain structures that are involved both in the processing of the phobic stimulus and in the reaction that it provokes. This brain network is composed by the amygdala, the orbitofrontal and cingulate cortices and the anterior insula. An increase in the activity of these brain regions occurs during the phobic reaction that can be associated with the somatic and autonomic changes, the subjective experience of intense fear and the avoidance behavior elicited by the phobic stimulus.

Keywords : Specific phobia; autonomic activity; defensive reflexes; amygdala; prefrontal cortex; insula.

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