Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-11T23:20:03.992Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Neurobiology of Social Phobia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Abstract

Social phobia is an anxiety disorder that is characterized by excessive fear and/or avoidance of situations in which an individual believes that he or she may be the subject of evaluation or scrutiny while interacting with other people or performing a specific task. This article reviews the available literature on the neurobiology underlying social phobia, including autonomic nervous system effects, neuroimaging findings, pharmacologic challenge studies, and neuroendocrine responsivity and function. Overall, such studies have found few consistently demonstrable differences in neurobiology between patients with social phobia and healthy controls, but further investigations are needed.

Type
Feature Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.Google Scholar
2.Papp, LA, Gorman, JM, Liebowitz, MR, Fyer, AJ, Cohen, B, Klein, DF. Epinephrine infusions in patients with social phobia. Am J Psychiatry. 1988;145:733736.Google ScholarPubMed
3.Levin, AP, Saoud, JB, Strauman, T, et al.Responses of “generalized” and “discrete” social phobics during public speaking. J Anxiety Disord. 1993;7:207221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Stein, MB, Tancer, ME, Uhde, TW. Heart rate and plasma norepinepherine responsivity to orthostatic challenge in anxiety disorders. Comparison of patients with panic disorder and social phobia and normal control subjects. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1992;49:311317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Stein, MB, Asmundson, GJG, Chartier, M. Autonomic responsivity in generalized social phobia. J Affective Disord. 1994;31:211221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Potts, NL, Davidson, JR, Krishnan, KR, Doraiswamy, PM. Magnetic resonance imaging in social phobia. Psychiatry Res. 1994;52:3542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Davidson, JRT, Krishnan, KRR, Charles, HC, et al.Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in social phobia: preliminary findings. J Clin Psychiatry. 1993;54(12 suppl):1925.Google ScholarPubMed
8.Tupler, LA, Davidson, JRT, Smith, RD, Lazeyras, F, Charles, HC, Krishnan, KRR. A repeat proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study in social phobia. Biol Psychiatry. 1997;42:419424.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Stein, MB, Leslie, WD. A brain single photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) study of generalized social phobia. Biol Psychiatry. 1996;39:825828.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Tiihonen, J, Kuikka, J, Bergstrbm, K, Lepola, U, Koponen, H, Leinonen, E. Dopamine reuptake site densities in patients with social phobia. Am J Psychiatry. 1997;154:239242.Google ScholarPubMed
11.Papp, LA, Klein, DF, Martinez, J, et al.Diagnostic and substance specificity of carbon-dioxide-induced panic. Am J Psychiatry. 1993;150:250257.Google ScholarPubMed
12.Gorman, JM, Papp, LA, Martinez, J, et al.High-dose carbon dioxide challenge test in anxiety disorder patients. Biol Psychiatry. 1990;28:743757.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Caldirola, D, Perna, G, Arancio, C, Bertani, A, Bellodi, L. The 35% CO2 challenge test in patients with social phobia. Psychiatry Res. 1997;71:4148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Uhde, TW, Boulenger, J-P. Caffeine model of panic. In: Lerer, B, Gerson, S, eds. New Directions in Affective Disorders. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag; 1989:410413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Uhde, TW. Caffeine provocation of panic. A focus on biological mechanisms. In: Ballenger, JC, ed. Neurobiological Aspects of Panic Disorder (Frontiers of Clinical Neuroscknces). New York, NY: Alan R. Liss; 1990:219242.Google Scholar
16.Tancer, ME, Stein, MB, Uhde, TW. Lactic acid response to caffeine in panic disorder: comparison with social phobics and normal controls. Anxiety. 1994/1995;1:138140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Bradwejn, J, Koszycki, D, Shriqui, C. Enhanced sensitivity to cholecystokinin tetrapeptide in panic disorder. Clinical and behavioral findings. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1991;603610.Google Scholar
18.van Vliet, IM, Westenberg, HGM, Slaap, BR, den Boer, JA, Ho Pian, KL. Anxiogenic effects of pentagastrin in patients with social phobia and healthy controls. Biol Psychiatry. 1997;42:7678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.McCann, UD, Slate, SO, Geraci, M, Roscow-Terrill, D, Uhde, TW. A comparison of the effects of intravenous pentagastrin on patients with social phobia, panic disorder, and healthy controls. Neuropsychopharmacology. 1997;16:229237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Uhde, TW, Tancer, ME, Gelernter, CS, Vitonne, BJ. Normal urinary free cortisol and postdexamethasone cortisol in social phobia: comparison to normal volunteers. J Affective Disord. 1994;30:155161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Tancer, ME, Mailman, RB, Stein, MB, Mason, GA, Carson, SW, Golden, RN. Neuroendocrine responsivity to monoaminergic system probes in generalized social phobia. Anxiety. 1994/1995;1:216223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Stein, MB. Neurobiological perspectives on social phobia: from affiliation to zoology. Biol Psychiatry. 1998;44:12771285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed