Summary: A brief episode of anxiety can significantly impair a person’s ability to distinguish between safe and dangerous environments, according to new research using a virtual reality flower-picking game. Participants who developed clear spatial memory of which areas contained “stinging bees” (simulated by mild shocks) exhibited lower anxiety, while those who couldn’t differentiate the zones maintained high anxiety—even in safe spaces.
The study found that temporary anxiety had a stronger effect on learning than general anxiety traits. This suggests that heightened situational fear may interfere with threat recognition and spatial awareness, potentially contributing to anxiety disorders like PTSD.
Key Facts:
- Temporary Anxiety Impact: Short-lived anxiety episodes had a stronger influence on learning safety cues than chronic anxiety levels.
- Spatial Memory Link: Better spatial learning was associated with lower anxiety and accurate threat recognition.
- Clinical Implications: Findings may explain mechanisms behind PTSD and other anxiety disorders, offering insight for future therapies.
Source: University of Rochester
A brief episode of anxiety may have a bigger influence on a person’s ability to learn what is safe and what is not.
The research recently published in NPJ Science of Learning used a virtual reality game that involved picking flowers with bees in some of the blossoms that would sting the participant—simulated by a mild electrical stimulation on the hand.
Researchers worked with 70 neurotypical participants between the ages of 20 and 30. Claire Marino, a research assistant in the ZVR Lab, and Pavel Rjabtsenkov, a Neuroscience graduate student at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, were co-first authors of the study that found that the people who learned to distinguish between the safe and dangerous areas—where the bees were and were not—showed better spatial memory and had lower anxiety, while participants who did not learn the different areas had higher anxiety and heightened fear even in safe areas.
Surprisingly, they discovered that temporary feelings of anxiety had the biggest impact on learning and not a person’s general tendency to feel anxious.
“These results help explain why some people struggle with anxiety-related disorders, such as PTSD, where they may have difficulty distinguishing safe situations from dangerous ones,” said the senior author of this study, Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, PhD, associate professor of Neuroscience and Center for Visual Science at the Del Monte Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Rochester.
“The findings suggest that excessive anxiety disrupts spatial learning and threat recognition, which could contribute to chronic fear responses.
“Understanding these mechanisms may help improve treatments for anxiety and stress-related disorders by targeting how people process environmental threats.”
Suarez-Jimenez explains that it is now important to understand if individuals with psychopathologies of anxiety and stress have similar variations in spatial memory.
Adding an attention-tracking measure, like eye-tracking, to future studies could help determine whether a focus on potential threats impacts broader environmental awareness.
Additional authors include Caitlin Sharp, Zonia Ali, Evelyn Pineda, Shreya Bavdekar, Tanya Garg, Kendal Jordan, Mary Halvorsen, Carlos Aponte, and Julie Blue of the University of Rochester Medical Center, and Xi Zhu, PhD, of Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Funding: The research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, Wellcome Trust Fellowship, and the European Research Council Grant.
About this anxiety and learning research news
Author: Kelsie Smith Hayduk
Source: University of Rochester
Contact: Kelsie Smith Hayduk – University of Rochester
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Using virtual reality to study spatial mapping and threat learning” by Claire Marino et al. npj Science of Learning
Abstract
Using virtual reality to study spatial mapping and threat learning
Using spatial mapping processes to discriminate between threat and safety is crucial for survival. Little is known why some fail to discriminate during contextual conditioning.
We used a virtual reality (VR) contextual conditioning paradigm to elucidate the effects of state and trait anxiety on contextual threat learning.
Participants (n = 70) “picked” flowers in a VR environment. Dangerous zone flowers predicted an electric shock, while safe zone flowers did not.
Between trials, participants completed a spatial memory task. Galvanic skin response (GSR) and State Trait Anxiety Inventory scores were recorded. Participants were considered learners for correctly identifying both zones.
Non-learners, compared to learners, performed worse during the spatial memory task and demonstrated higher state anxiety scores and GSR.
Learners showed higher skin conductance response (SCR) in the dangerous compared to the safe zone, while non-learners showed no SCR differences between zones.
Results indicate state anxiety may impair spatial mapping, disrupting contextual threat learning.
