Anxiety states under different threat phases

Fear and anxiety are essential survival mechanisms. These evolved responses, such as increased heart rate and muscle tension, allow us to detect, prepare for, and react to potential danger. However, these defensive responses vary depending on the characteristics of situation—is the threat immediate, requiring quick action? Or is it uncertain, demanding heightened vigilance? 

Do people with anxiety and post-trauma respond differently in these situations?

Measuring how the nervous system shifts between these states could help us develop ways to predict risk for psychopathology.

Our lab is developing ways to objectively capture anxiety states by measuring defensive responses to different threat conditions, using multiple physiological channels. Through computational approaches, we aim to integrate these signals to identify distinct physiological states of anxiety.

In the wake of 7/10 and the ensuing war, the population of trauma-exposed individuals, both among civilians and security forces, increased exponentially. If we could predict who is more likely to develop severe, enduring post-traumatic symptoms following exposure to war, that could help us in guiding prevention and intervention approaches. Through this work, we aim to provide clinicians with objective, data-driven methods for better detection, monitoring, and treatment of anxiety and post-trauma disorders.