Table 1.
Characteristics of the studies included in the meta‐analysis
| Experiment | Phobics | Healthy controls | Task and stimuli | Whole brain or ROI | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. | Type | M/F | Age | N. | M/F | Age | |||
| Brinkmann et al., 2017 | 16 | BII | 0/16 | 24.1 ± 3.82 | 16 | 0/16 | 23.7 ± 4.44 | Anticipation and exposure of phobia‐specific and neutral pictures | ROI |
| Britton et al., 2009 | 12 | SAP | 5/7 | 25.2 ± 4.5 | 12 | 4/8 | 26.7 ± 5.5 | Emotional Stroop task with phobic and neutral words | Both |
| Caseras, Giampietro, et al., 2010 |
14 15 |
SP BII |
2/12 2/13 |
21.50 ± 2.73 22.40 ± 2.32 |
17 | 2/15 | 21.76 ± 2.88 | Exposure to phobic and nonphobic stimuli | Both |
| Caseras, Mataix‐Cols, et al., 2010 |
14 12 |
SP BII |
3/11 3/9 |
22.71 ± 2.89 24.58 ± 4.31 |
14 | 3/11 | 23 ± 2.66 | Exposure to phobic and nonphobic stimuli | Whole brain |
| Dilger et al., 2003 | 9 | SP | 0/9 | 25 ± 2.3 | 9 | 0/9 | 21.3 ± 0.6 | Exposure to phobic, aversive (snakes) and nonphobic (mushrooms) stimuli | Both |
| Goossens et al., 2007a | 15 | SP | 2/13 | 24 ± 2 | 14 | 2/12 | 23 ± 1 | Exposure to phobic, aversive (snakes) and nonphobic (mushrooms) stimuli | Both |
| Goossens et al., 2007b | 16 | SP | 0/16 | 24 ± 3.02 | 14 | 2/12 | 24 ± 3.02 | Exposure to phobic, aversive (snakes) and nonphobic (mushrooms) stimuli | Both |
| Halsband & Wolf, 2015 | 12 | DP | 4/8 | 34.9 | 12 | 6/6 | 33.15 | Exposure to audio‐visual phobic stimuli | ROI |
| Hermann et al., 2007 | 9 | BII | 0/9 | 22.9 ± 4.7 | 10 | 0/10 | 27.6 ± 10.6 | Exposure to phobic, disgusting, fearful and neutral stimuli | Both |
| Hilbert et al., 2014 | 13 | DP | 4/9 | 24.92 ± 2.25 | 13 | 4/9 | 23.23 ± 3.19 | Exposure to audio‐visual phobic stimuli | Whole brain |
| Killgore et al., 2014 | 15 | SAP | 4/11 | 35.6 ± 8.7 | 22 | 8/14 | 30.7 ± 9.2 | Exposure to masked emotionally expressive and neutral faces | ROI |
| Lipka et al., 2011 | 18 | SP | 0/18 | 25.56 ± 5.26 | 18 | 0/18 | 24.72 ± 5 | Exposure to masked phobic and neutral stimuli | ROI |
| Lipka et al., 2014 |
14 14 |
SP SP |
0/14 0/14 |
23.57 ± 4.42 23.88 ± 3.65 |
14 | 0/14 | 25.00 ± 3.70 | Exposure to Subliminal and supraliminal phobic and neutral stimuli | Both |
| Lueken et al., 2011 |
12 12 |
SP DP |
3/9 3/9 |
25.6 ± 7.54 25.1 ± 7.03 |
17 | 5/12 | 23.7 ± 4.44 | Exposure to phobic and neutral video stimuli | Both |
| Lueken et al., 2014 |
13 13 |
SP DP |
2/11 3/10 |
21.85 ± 1.95 23.00 ± 3.37 |
13 | 3/10 | 21.46 ± 1.85 | Anticipation and perception phase of phobic and neutral stimuli | Both |
| Michalowski et al., 2017 |
12 12 |
SP DP |
2/10 1/11 |
22.8 ± 3.3 (data for single groups of phobia were not presented) |
13 | 6/7 | 22.8 ± 3.3 | Exposure to phobic and neutral pictures | Both |
| Munsterkotter et al., 2015 | 25 | SP | 2/23 | 24.4 ± 5.42 | 26 | 5/21 | 25.5 ± 5.13 | Exposure to phobic and neutral stimuli under conditions of either predicted (phasic) or unpredicted (sustained) fear | ROI |
| Scharmuller et al., 2014 | 20 | DP | 0/20 | 28.7 ± 9.2 | 20 | 0/20 | 25.4 ± 8.0 | Exposure to phobic and neutral images | Both |
| Schienle et al., 2005 | 10 | SP | 0/10 | 22.5 ± 2.2 | 13 | 0/13 | 23.9 ± 6.8 | Exposure to phobic, disgusting, fearful and neutral stimuli | Both |
| Schienle et al., 2007 | 26 | SP | 0/26 |
27.2 ± 9.2 24.3 ± 2.0 |
25 | 0/25 | 24.6 ± 6.3 | Exposure to phobic, disgusting, fearful and neutral stimuli | Both |
| Schienle et al., 2013 | 45 | SP | 20/25 |
31.5 ± 10.5 29.5 ± 10.7 |
41 | 18/23 |
30.9 ± 8.5 28.4 ± 9.4 |
Exposure to phobic, disgusting, fearful and neutral stimuli |
Both |
| Schweckendiek et al., 2011 | 15 | SP | 2/13 | 23.53 ± 3.27 | 14 | 2/12 | 23.64 ± 3.43 | Exposure to phobic and neutral stimuli | Both |
| Straube et al., 2004 | 11 | SP | 0/11 | 20.8 | 11 | 0/11 | 22.4 | Exposure to phobia‐relevant and neutral words | ROI |
| Straube, Mentzel, et al., 2006 | 28 | SP | 0/28 | 22.07 ± 1.98 | 14 | 0/14 | 22.07 ± 1.98 | Exposure to phobic and neutral video stimuli | Both |
| Straube, Glauer, et al., 2006 | 11 | SP | 0/11 | 20.9 ± 2.3 | 12 | 0/12 | 21.3 ± 0.6 | Exposure to phobic and neutral images | ROI |
| Straube et al., 2007 | 16 | SP | 0/16 | 21.8 ± 0.6 | 15 | 0/15 | 22.7 ± 0.9 | Anticipation and presentation of phobic and neutral stimuli | Both |
| Straube et al., 2011 | 17 | SP | 0/17 | 25.2 ± 4.9 | 16 | 0/16 | 26.6 ± 9.2 | Exposure to phobic and neutral images while performing a distraction task | Both |
| Wendt et al., 2008 | 13 | SP | 0/13 | 23.2 | 13 | 0/13 | 21.1 | Exposure to phobic and neutral stimuli | Both |
| Wiemer et al., 2015 | 18 | SP | 0/18 | 21.4 ± 4.2 | 18 | 0/18 | 22.2 ± 2.2 | Exposure to phobic and neutral stimuli followed randomly by a painful electrical shock | Both |
| Wright et al., 2003 | 10 | SAP | 4/6 | 29.8 ± 6.8 | 10 | 4/6 | 29.8 ± 6.8 | Exposure to emotionally expressive and neutral faces | Both |
| Zilverstand et al., 2017 | 7 | SP | 0/7 | 21.7 ± 3.9 | 7 | 0/7 | 20.9 ± 2.2 | Exposure to phobic stimuli in different contexts and at different zoom | Whole brain |
SAP = small animal phobia; SP = spider phobia; BII = blood, injection and injury phobia; DP = dental phobia.