# Learning to fear social interactions: Dysregulated neural mechanisms of social learning in adolescent social anxiety

> **NIH NIH F31** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2021 · $33,251

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Social anxiety (SA) disorder is prevalent, chronic, and impairs quality of life. Typical onset occurs in early
adolescence, when social relationships become more salient and complex. Thus, difficulty learning from
nuanced interactions may potentiate SA. Although SA is associated with suboptimal adaptive learning rates
in non-social and uncertain/volatile contexts, little is known about relations between SA and learning
during symptom-eliciting social interactions with peers. Moreover, in SA, social feedback is associated
with dysregulated engagement of neural circuits implicated in salience and reward processing, which are
critical hubs for learning. Despite this overlap, the neural mechanisms that support learning from social
feedback remain relatively unexplored in SA. Treating deficits in social learning may diminish acute SA
symptoms before they become chronic, thereby reducing the high societal cost of adult SA. Progress towards
this goal has been hindered by the limited extension of well-established computational methods to isolating the
neural mechanisms of social learning. The proposed project addresses these limitations by pairing
computational modeling with fMRI to determine the extent to which peer value, valence of peer feedback and
volatility of peer feedback modulate the neural bases of social learning about peers and their relation to
adolescent SA. The proposed project will study the behavioral and neural responses of adolescents (N=60;
age 10-15yrs) with a range of SA to real-time social interactions with purported peers while undergoing an
fMRI scan. Aims of this study are consistent with the NIMH strategic plan (Objective 1): defining the
mechanisms of complex behaviors, specifically how environmental factors, such as social experiences, and
neural mechanisms influence socially anxious behavior. The proposed study will determine neural circuits
involved in complex social learning through interactions that are associated with SA. Such findings will provide
novel treatment targets for SA. The proposed training plan, which consists of workshops, experiential learning,
and mentorship, are designed to develop the applicant's expertise in computational modeling, neuroimaging
and clinical assessment of SA disorder. The proposed study will take place within Temple University's clinical
psychology program, which has a successful track record of conducting impactful NIMH-funded research and
training research scientists.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10071083
- **Project number:** 5F31MH122091-02
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Tessa Clarkson
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $33,251
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-01-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10071083

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10071083, Learning to fear social interactions: Dysregulated neural mechanisms of social learning in adolescent social anxiety (5F31MH122091-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10071083. Licensed CC0.

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