Amygdala and Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Function During Anticipated Peer Evaluation in Pediatric Social Anxiety

Abstract

Dramatic changes in the social context of behavior during adolescence are associated with increased incidence of social anxiety.^1-4 Information-processing biases about social experiences may contribute to this increase in anxiety. For example, psychological theories posit that social anxiety is associated with excessive fears of judgment and biased appraisals of others as overly critical.^5,6 These theories suggest that anticipation of peer evaluation leads anxious adolescents to misperceive peers as overly threatening and uninterested in social interactions with them. Functional neuroimaging provides an opportunity to ground these psychological theories in knowledge of neural function.⁷