summary: Researchers have developed an AI-driven brain model that can track fear as it unfolds in real-world situations, marking a major shift from traditional laboratory-based approaches. Classic fear research often relies on static images, but these do not reflect how the brain processes fear in dynamic situations. A new model accurately captures fear responses during nature experiences and reveals that oxytocin specifically reduces fear in social situations.
These findings point to targeted mechanisms for treating social anxiety, social phobia, and related symptoms. This research also provides a powerful tool to develop clinical interventions that better reflect real-life emotional processing.
important facts
- Real-world fear mapping: An AI-inspired brain model better captured fear responses during natural experiences than traditional laboratory paradigms.
- Reducing social fears: Oxytocin reduced both subjective fear and its neural signature, especially in social situations.
- New therapeutic routes: The findings support a targeted approach to conditions characterized by excessive social fears, such as anxiety and autism-related challenges.
sauce: University of Hong Kong
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have published an innovative approach to understanding and treating social anxiety, challenging decades of laboratory-based assumptions and opening the door to targeted therapies.
This discovery brings new hope to millions of people suffering from disorders such as social phobia and autism by developing AI-driven brain models that accurately capture fear in real-world scenarios, and paves the way for clinical interventions using innovative tools.
Fear is a natural survival instinct, but for many people it can become a debilitating state like social anxiety. A fundamental challenge in treating such disorders is that traditional laboratory studies of fear fail to capture how the emotion is experienced in dynamic real-world situations.
A research team led by Professor Benjamin Becker from the University of Hong Kong's Department of Psychology has made significant progress in two recent studies. Researchers have shown for the first time that existing fear brain models developed in the lab using still images cannot reliably track fear responses during real-life experiences such as watching scary movies. To overcome this, they developed an advanced AI-inspired brain model that can accurately track the conscious experience of fear in these dynamic, natural situations.
Building on this innovation, researchers used a new model to test the effects of the hormone oxytocin. The results showed that oxytocin specifically reduced both subjective fear and its corresponding neural signature in social situations, but not in non-social situations. This suggests a highly targeted mechanism to reduce social fear.
Main implications of the study:
- It challenges the validity of hundreds of previous laboratory studies and shows that they may not accurately explain how the brain processes fear in everyday life.
- We provide compelling evidence for new targeted treatment approaches for disorders characterized by excessive social fear, such as social anxiety, social phobia, and autism.
- Creating powerful new AI-driven tools to bridge the gap between laboratory research and real-world emotional experiences, paving the way for more effective clinical interventions.
Answers to key questions:
answer: Previous studies use static images and simplified stimuli, which do not reflect the complexity of real-world fear. A new AI-based model shows that fear processing changes dramatically in dynamic environments, uncovering a decades-long gap in laboratory research.
answer: Oxytocin reduced both subjective fear ratings and fear-related neural patterns, but only in social situations. This selective effect suggests a precise mechanism for treating disorders involving social phobia.
answer: By uncovering the symptoms of fear in real-world situations, this model allows for more targeted interventions and supports treatments that specifically address social fear circuits. This opens new possibilities for personalized, mechanism-based treatments.
Editorial note:
- This article was edited by the editors of Neuroscience News.
- Journal articles were reviewed in full text.
- Additional context added by staff.
About this AI and fear research news
author: jamie ng
sauce: University of Hong Kong
contact: Jamie Ng – University of Hong Kong
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access.
“Oxytocin reduces subjective fear in naturalistic social contexts by enhancing top-down midcingulate amygdala modulation and brain-wide fear expression” by Benjamin Becker et al. cutting edge science
abstract
Oxytocin reduces subjective fear in naturalistic social contexts by enhancing top-down midcingulate amygdala modulation and brain-wide fear expression
Accumulating evidence from animal and human studies suggests the potential of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) to control fear, but clinical application to new interventions for pathological fear requires characterization of behavior and neural function under conditions that approximate reality.
Here, we present a naturalistic fMRI design that elicits intensely immersive fear experiences in social and non-social situations and a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, intranasal OT study (24 IU, n= 67 healthy men).
OT selectively reduced subjective fear in social but not non-social situations. At the neural level, OT enhanced activation of the left middle cingulate cortex (lMCC) and functional connectivity with the contralateral amygdala, and both neural indicators were significantly inversely correlated with subjective fear after OT.
At the network level, OT enhanced communication between the dorsal attention network (DAN) and fronto-parietal (FPN) and default mode networks (DMN), modulating communication patterns across the brain.
Utilizing an independent active connectivity neural marker (CAFE) for fear in naturalistic situations, we confirmed that OT reduces fear expression across the brain.
Findings demonstrate ecologically valid and socially specific fear-reducing effects of OT and highlight its promise as a treatment option for disorders characterized by excessive fear in social situations.
