The long-term objective of the current research proposal is to provide a foundation of knowledge on the neural correlates of cognitive biases in social phobia in order to better inform clinically relevant issues such as nosology, diagnostics, treatment, and prevention. As a first major step towards achieving this long-term goal, the aims of the current study involve applying knowledge from experimental psychophysiology and cognitive science to the investigation of cognitive biases in adult psychopathology. Specifically, the current study aims are to utilize event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to examine cognitive biases implicated in the development and maintenance of social phobia and to identify those biases that are specific to social phobia (SP) by comparing them to those present in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), as data suggest social anxiety and depression may manifest in similar ways, but the underlying cognitive mechanisms may be different. This will be accomplished by recording attentional allocation and response monitoring ERPs while patients with SP, patients with MDD and normal control participants perform two speeded reaction time tasks. ? ? ?
