Association between startle reactivity to uncertain threats and structural brain volume

Sensitivity to uncertain threat (U‐threat) is a clinically important individual difference factor in multiple psychopathologies. Recent studies have implicated a specific frontolimbic circuit as a key network involved in the anticipation of aversive stimuli. In particular, the insula, thalamus, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) have recently been found to be robustly activated by anticipation of U‐threat. However, no study to date has examined the association between U‐threat reactivity and structural brain volume. In the present study, we utilized a pooled sample of 186 young adult volunteers who completed a structural MRI scan and the well‐validated No‐Predictable‐Unpredictable (NPU) threat of electric shock task. Startle eyeblink potentiation was collected during the NPU task as an objective index of aversive reactivity. ROI‐based analyses revealed that increased startle reactivity to U‐threat was associated with reduced gray matter volume in the right insula and bilateral thalamus, but not the dACC. These results add to a growing literature implicating the insula and thalamus as core nodes involved in individual differences in U‐threat reactivity. The current findings demonstrate that startle reactivity to uncertain threat (U‐threat) is negatively correlated with the structural brain volume of two core regions involved in emotion processing, namely the insula and thalamus. The results add to a growing literature focused on understanding the neural underpinnings of exaggerated sensitivity to U‐threat.