Individuals scoring high in social phobia engage neuronal investment in the processing of chemosensory anxiety signals at an earlier processing level (N1) than non-socially anxious participants (P3). It has repeatedly been reported that social anxiety is characterized by a bias towards social and threat related information at an early level of information processing. Especially the P1 component of the visual ERP is increased in socially anxious participants during the processing of human faces [45], [46]. This processing advantage occurs most distinctly in response to negative or angry facial expressions [47], [48]. It is in line with the present study that the early processing advantage for negative social stimuli in social phobia patients is accompanied by a reduced late stimulus processing [46]. Hereby, it is indicated that attentional avoidance follows the initial orientation towards negative social information.
