Suppression of mu rhythm during exposure to social anxiety related stimuli

• Grant number: 15/20859-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2015
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Renato Teodoro Ramos
• Grantee: André Amado Ferreira de Mello
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The mu rhythm in electroencephalography is described as a standard oscillation in the frequency domain in the band of 8-13 Hz and 15-25 Hz. The inhibition of this activity pattern has been associated with mirror neuron activity in motor and premotor cortical areas. Mirror neurons, in turn, has been linked to empathy, a cognitive capacity supposed to be changed in social anxiety. The objective of this project is to compare cortical activity patterns in individuals with high and low levels of social anxiety during the observation of a scene capable of generating discomfort in a social context. the scenes were recorded in two conditions: filmed in the third person (when the empathic capacity is expected to be stimulated) and in a first-person perspective (when only possible feelings of the threat itself should be evoked). It is expected that the observation of differences between groups' information may contribute to the improvement of pathophysiological models of anxiety and social phobia.