Perceptual Thresholds for Threat Are Lowered in Anxiety: Evidence From Perceptual Psychophysics

Anxiety is believed to be characterized by heightened sensitivity to threat. The behavioral-inhibition system (BIS), a risk factor for anxiety, is hypothesized to index this threat sensitivity. In the present study, we address a critical gap in the literature: Neither anxiety nor BIS have been clearly linked with behavioral measures of threat sensitivity indexed by lowered threat-related perceptual thresholds. We used psychophysical methods to precisely measure absolute perceptual thresholds for detection of threatening and neutral faces. We examined their relationships with self-reported BIS and anxious apprehension in individuals diagnosed with anxiety disorders and individuals not diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Irrespective of anxiety disorder diagnosis, higher self-reported BIS and anxious apprehension were associated with reduced perceptual thresholds for threatening versus neutral stimuli, but only BIS showed a specific association after controlling for anxious apprehension. Using adaptive psychometrics, in this study, we offer key empirical evidence linking specific temperamental dimensions with perceptual indices of threat sensitivity transdiagnostically across anxiety disorders.