Directed exploration is reduced by an aversive interoceptive state induction in healthy individuals but not in those with affective disorders

Abstract

Elevated anxiety and uncertainty avoidance are known to exacerbate maladaptive choice in individuals with affective disorders. However, the differential roles of state vs. trait anxiety remain unclear, and underlying computational mechanisms have not been thoroughly characterized. In the present study, we investigated how a somatic (interoceptive) state anxiety induction influences learning and decision-making under uncertainty in individuals with clinically significant levels of trait anxiety. A sample of 58 healthy comparisons (HCs) and 61 individuals with affective disorders displaying elevated anxiety symptoms (iADs; i.e., anxiety and/or depression) completed a previously validated explore-exploit decision task, with and without an added breathing resistance manipulation designed to induce state anxiety. Computational modeling revealed a significant group-by-condition interaction, such that information-seeking (i.e., directed exploration) in HCs was reduced by the anxiety induction (Cohen’s d = 0.47, p = 0.013), while no change was observed in iADs. The iADs also showed slower learning rates than HCs across conditions (Cohen’s d = 0.52, p = 0.003), suggesting their uncertainty decreased more slowly over time. These findings highlight a complex interplay between trait anxiety and state anxiety. Specifically, state anxiety may attenuate reflection on uncertainty in healthy individuals, while familiarity with anxious states in those with high trait anxiety may create an insensitivity to this effect.