Re: Avoiding Triggers

“Neural responses to fearful facial expressions are modulated by task instructions.”

I’d see this as being a focusing of attention away from the stimulus triggering the fear (the fearful expression) and/or possibly “absorption” or “dissociation,” thereby reducing or eliminating the emotional response triggered by the fearful expression.

Here’s a somewhat similar example: Anyone experiencing fear of height while working at the top of a high ladder can usually avoid/reduce the triggering of fear thru a simple cognitive-behavioral intervention: don’t look down...and focus on whatever it is your doing on the top of the ladder. It’s my opinion that “not looking down” avoids/blunts the triggering stimulus to the amygdala. (Although I wouldn’t see any of this as involving EM or bls as those things are perceived in EMDR.)

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