Attenuation of Anxiety-Potentiated Startle After Treatment With Escitalopram or Mindfulness Meditation in Anxiety Disorders.
Biological psychiatry January 1, 2024 Elizabeth A Hoge, Caroline H Armstrong, Mihriye Mete et al. 10 citations
Anxiety disorders are linked to heightened startle responses during unpredictable threat, a physiological marker called anxiety-potentiated startle (APS). In a study of 93 individuals with anxiety disorders and 66 healthy controls, APS was higher in the anxious group at baseline. After eight weeks of treatment with either escitalopram or mindfulness-based stress reduction, both treatment groups showed significantly greater reductions in APS compared to controls, with patients' APS levels falling into the range of healthy individuals. Fear-potentiated startle (FPS), a response to predictable threat, did not differ between groups at baseline nor change with treatment. These results validate APS as a biological correlate of pathological anxiety and provide evidence that mindfulness-based stress reduction can alter anxiety-related neurocircuitry similarly to medication.