Academic Journal
Precisely targeted brain stimulation for social anxiety: Proactive cognitive control and attentional biases as pathways to symptom reduction.
| Τίτλος: | Precisely targeted brain stimulation for social anxiety: Proactive cognitive control and attentional biases as pathways to symptom reduction. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Lang X; School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China; Key Laboratory of Behavioral and Mental Health of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, China., Kang T; Tongji Hospital of Tongji University, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: kanglucheng@tongji.edu.cn., Deng G; School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China., Du C; School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China., Wu H; Tongji Hospital of Tongji University, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: hengwu@tongji.edu.cn., Ding X; School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China; Key Laboratory of Behavioral and Mental Health of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, China. Electronic address: dxb4587@nwnu.edu.cn. |
| Πηγή: | Journal of affective disorders [J Affect Disord] 2026 Aug 15; Vol. 407, pp. 121769. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Apr 11. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7906073 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-2517 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01650327 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Affect Disord Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Amsterdam, Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation*/methods , Attentional Bias*/physiology , Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex*/physiopathology , Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex*/physiology , Phobia, Social*/therapy , Phobia, Social*/physiopathology , Anxiety*/therapy , Anxiety*/physiopathology , Cognition*/physiology, Humans ; Male ; Female ; Single-Blind Method ; Electroencephalography ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Cues ; Prefrontal Cortex |
| Περίληψη: | Background: In individuals with high social anxiety (HSAs), threat-related attentional bias is robust. However, traditional attentional bias modification shows small and unstable effects, suggesting that this bias may be more of a symptom than a cause. Additionally, existing transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) trials have primarily focused on symptoms or single behavioral outcomes without clarifying the cognitive processes being modulated. Objective: To examine whether high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) enhances proactive cognitive control, thereby improving attentional bias toward threat cues and alleviating social anxiety symptoms. Methods: In this randomized, sham-controlled, single-blind trial, 59 HSAs received either active or sham HD-tDCS (2 mA, 20 min/day, for 5 consecutive days). Questionnaires, behavioral tasks (AX-continuous performance task, dot-probe) with concurrent EEG recording, and resting-state EEG were collected before and after the intervention. Follow-up questionnaires were completed 1 month post-intervention. Results: The active group showed a significant reduction in social anxiety symptoms, which was maintained at the one-month follow-up. Active stimulation significantly enhanced proactive control (increased d' Context and cue-locked P3b amplitude), while decreasing the theta/beta ratio at the F3 electrode. Furthermore, active stimulation significantly facilitated disengagement from threat (smaller disengagement index and increased target-locked P3 amplitude), along with enhanced threat avoidance. Mediation analysis further showed that improvements in proactive control partially explained the facilitation of disengagement from threat. Conclusion: Our findings provide initial multimodal support for a mechanistic pathway linking HD-tDCS over the left DLPFC to symptom reduction through enhanced proactive control and improved disengagement from threat. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest All authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could potentially influence the work presented in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Attentional bias; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Event-related potential; High social anxiety; High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation; Proactive control; theta/beta ratio |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260413 Date Completed: 20260714 Latest Revision: 20260812 |
| Update Code: | 20260813 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jad.2026.121769 |
| PMID: | 41974378 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1573-2517 |
|---|---|
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jad.2026.121769 |