047 Fear-Potentiated Startle and Sleep in Trauma-Exposed Men and Women with and without PTSD

SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A20-A20
Author(s):  
Anne Richards ◽  
Sabra Inslicht ◽  
J Russell Huie ◽  
Leslie Yack ◽  
Laura Straus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Stress Condition ◽  
Sleep Onset ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Safety Signal ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Learning Retention ◽  
Fear Potentiated Startle ◽  
Learning And Change ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Introduction Animal and human studies indicate that fear conditioning disrupts subsequent sleep, including REM sleep (REMS). REMS is thought to be central to fear information processing. We utilized an afternoon nap protocol to examine the effects of fear-potentiated startle (FPS), a variant of fear conditioning, on subsequent sleep integrity and REMS in trauma-exposed participants with varying levels of PTSD. We also examined the effects of changes in sleep integrity and REMS on subsequent retention and extinction of pre-sleep learning. Methods Participants (N=47) participated in 3 nap visits. The first was an adaptation nap. The second and third nap visits were counterbalanced: a stress-condition nap, during which participants underwent FPS procedures prior to a nap and assessment of retention of fear and safety signal learning and fear extinction after the nap, and a control visit during which participants had a nap opportunity without stressful procedures. Canonical correlation analysis assessed the relationship between FPS responses and change in subsequent sleep relative to a control nap, as well as the relationship between change in sleep from control to stress condition and both subsequent fear and safety learning retention, and subsequent extinction. Results Results demonstrated a relationship between fear learning and change in sleep and supported a relationship between safety signal learning and subsequent REMS, as well as differential conditioning and wake after sleep onset. Sleep did not predict measures of fear retention or extinction. PTSD symptoms did not predict fear learning or sleep measures. Conclusion These findings replicate prior work showing a relationship between safety learning and REMS, suggesting that this is a core mechanism through which stress impacts fear processing. Further research is critical to further understand this effect, and to examine how different aspects of fear learning impact different components of sleep. This study also demonstrates that nap studies can be a valuable approach for studying the stress-sleep relationship. Support (if any) VA Career Development Award to Dr. Richards (5IK2CX000871-05)

The Relationship of Fear-Potentiated Startle and Polysomnography-Measured Sleep in Trauma-Exposed Men and Women with and without PTSD: Testing REM Sleep Effects and Exploring the Roles of an Integrative Measure of Sleep, PTSD Symptoms, and Biological Sex

SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Richards ◽  
Sabra S Inslicht ◽  
Leslie M Yack ◽  
Thomas J Metzler ◽  
J Russell Huie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulus ◽  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Stress Condition ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Air Blast ◽  
Sex Effects ◽  
Biological Sex ◽  
Fear Potentiated Startle ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Study Objectives Published research indicates that sleep is involved in emotional information processing. Using a fear-potentiated startle (FPS) and nap sleep protocol, we examined the relationship of emotional learning with REM sleep (REMS) in trauma-exposed participants. We also explored the roles of PTSD symptoms, biological sex, and an integrative measure of polysomnography-measured (PSG) sleep in the learning-sleep relationship. Methods After an adaptation nap, participants (N=46) completed 2 more visits (counterbalanced): a stress-condition visit, which included FPS conditioning procedures prior to a nap and assessment of learning retention and fear extinction training after the nap, and a control visit, which included a nap opportunity without stressful procedures. FPS conditioning included a “fear” visual stimulus paired with an air blast to the neck and a “safety” visual stimulus never paired with an air blast. Retention and extinction involved presentation of the visual stimuli without the air blast. Primary analyses examined the relationship between FPS responses pre- and post- sleep with stress-condition REMS duration, controlling for control-nap REMS duration. Results Higher safety learning predicted increased REMS and increased REMS predicted more rapid extinction learning. Similar relationships were observed with an integrative PSG sleep measure. They also showed unexpected effects of PTSD symptoms on learning and showed biological sex effects on learning-sleep relationships. Conclusions Findings support evidence of a relationship between adaptive emotional learning and REMS. They underscore the importance of examining sex effects in sleep-learning relationships. They introduce an integrative PSG sleep measure with potential relevance to studies of sleep and subjective and biological outcomes.

Conditioned Physiological Reactivity and PTSD Symptoms Across the Menstrual Cycle: Anxiety Sensitivity as a Moderator

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Carpenter ◽  
Laura Bragdon ◽  
Suzanne L. Pineles
Keyword(s):  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Anxiety Sensitivity ◽  
Conditioned Fear ◽  
Gonadal Hormones ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Physiological Reactivity ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Objective: PTSD is often associated with heightened physiological reactivity during fear conditioning procedures, but results vary across studies. The present study examined whether anxiety sensitivity (AS), or the fear of arousal-related sensations, strengthens the relationship between PTSD symptoms and skin conductance responses (SCR) during fear conditioning and extinction. Because gonadal hormones implicated in fear learning processes fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, the stability of these relationships in women was examined in two distinct menstrual cycle phases. Method: Thirty-two trauma-exposed women with (n=16) and without PTSD (n=16) completed the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, Anxiety Sensitivity Inventory, and a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm during the mid-luteal (mLP) and early-follicular (eFP) menstrual cycle phases. Results: In the mLP, stronger SCR to stimuli paired with shock (CS+) during fear acquisition significantly predicted greater PTSD symptoms only when AS was high and after removing an outlier. This appeared driven by effects on Numbing and Hyperarousal symptom clusters. Other hypothesized interactions between AS and CS responses were not significant. However, in the eFP, differential SCR between the CS+ and CS- during extinction predicted significantly greater PTSD symptoms, and there was a trend for this effect being stronger as AS increased. Conclusions: Results offer preliminary evidence that high AS contributes to a stronger relationship between physiological responses during fear acquisition and PTSD symptoms, at least among women in the mLP. Further research investigating the impact of individual differences in traits such as AS on the relationship between conditioned fear responses and PTSD symptoms is warranted.

scholarly journals Brief optogenetic inhibition of rat lateral or ventrolateral periaqueductal gray augments the acquisition of Pavlovian fear conditioning

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neda Assareh ◽  
Elena E. Bagley ◽  
Pascal Carrive ◽  
Gavan P. McNally
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Periaqueductal Gray ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Defensive Responses ◽  
Defensive Behaviors ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Exact Timing

AbstractThe midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) coordinates the expression and topography of defensive behaviors to threat and also plays an important role in Pavlovian fear learning itself. Whereas the role of PAG in expression of defensive behavior is well understood, the relationship between activity of PAG neurons and fear learning, the exact timing of PAG contributions to learning during the conditioning trial, and the contributions of different PAG columns to fear learning are poorly understood. We assessed the effects of optogenetic inhibition of lateral (LPAG) and ventrolateral (VLPAG) PAG neurons on fear learning. Using adenoassociated viral vectors expressing halorhodopsin (eNpHR3.0), we show that brief optogenetic inhibition of LPAG or VLPAG during delivery of the shock unconditioned stimulus (US) augments acquisition of contextual or cued fear conditioning and we also show that this inhibition augments post-encounter defensive responses to a non-noxious threat. Taken together, these results show that LPAG and VLPAG serve a key role in regulation of Pavlovian fear learning at the time of US delivery. These findings provide strong support for existing models which state that LPAG and VLPAG contribute to a fear prediction error signal determining variations in the effectiveness of the aversive US in supporting learning.

scholarly journals Secure attachment priming protects against relapse of fear in Young adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Metaxia Toumbelekis ◽  
Belinda J. Liddell ◽  
Richard A. Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Attachment Figure ◽  
Fear Potentiated Startle ◽  
Reinstatement Test

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that activating the attachment system attenuates fear learning. This study aimed to explore whether attachment priming can also impact on fear extinction processes, which underpin the management of anxiety disorders. In this study, 81 participants underwent a standard fear conditioning and extinction protocol on day 1 and returned 24 h later for an extinction recall and reinstatement test. Half the participants were primed to imagine their closest attachment figure prior to undergoing extinction training, while the other half were instructed to imagine a positive situation. Fear-potentiated startle and subjective expectancies of shock were measured as the primary indicators of fear. Attachment priming led to less relapse during the reinstatement test at the physiological but not subjective levels. These findings have translational potential to imply that activating awareness of attachment figures might augment long-term safety memories acquired in existing treatments to reduce relapse of fear.

scholarly journals Aversive Imagery Causes De Novo Fear Conditioning

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 1001-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik M. Mueller ◽  
Matthias F. J. Sperl ◽  
Christian Panitz
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Aversive Stimulation ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Conditioned Stimuli ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
The Face ◽  
Fear Potentiated Startle ◽  
External Stimuli

In classical fear conditioning, neutral conditioned stimuli that have been paired with aversive physical unconditioned stimuli eventually trigger fear responses. Here, we tested whether aversive mental images systematically paired with a conditioned stimulus also cause de novo fear learning in the absence of any external aversive stimulation. In two experiments ( N = 45 and N = 41), participants were first trained to produce aversive, neutral, or no imagery in response to three different visual-imagery cues. In a subsequent imagery-based differential-conditioning paradigm, each of the three cues systematically coterminated with one of three different neutral faces. Although the face that was paired with the aversive-imagery cue was never paired with aversive external stimuli or threat-related instructions, participants rated it as more arousing, unpleasant, and threatening and displayed relative fear bradycardia and fear-potentiated startle. These results could be relevant for the development of fear and related disorders without trauma.

scholarly journals Attention bias toward threat is associated with exaggerated fear expression and impaired extinction in PTSD

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Fani ◽  
E. B. Tone ◽  
J. Phifer ◽  
S. D. Norrholm ◽  
B. Bradley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Neural Network Models ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Fear Potentiated Startle ◽  
The Relationship

BackgroundPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops in a minority of traumatized individuals. Attention biases to threat and abnormalities in fear learning and extinction are processes likely to play a critical role in the creation and/or maintenance of PTSD symptomatology. However, the relationship between these processes has not been established, particularly in highly traumatized populations; understanding their interaction can help inform neural network models and treatments for PTSD.MethodAttention biases were measured using a dot probe task modified for use with our population; task stimuli included photographs of angry facial expressions, which are emotionally salient threat signals. A fear-potentiated startle paradigm was employed to measure atypical physiological response during acquisition and extinction phases of fear learning. These measures were administered to a sample of 64 minority (largely African American), highly traumatized individuals with and without PTSD.ResultsParticipants with PTSD demonstrated attention biases toward threat; this attentional style was associated with exaggerated startle response during fear learning and early and middle phases of extinction, even after accounting for the effects of trauma exposure.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that an attentional bias toward threat is associated with abnormalities in ‘fear load’ in PTSD, providing seminal evidence for an interaction between these two processes. Future research combining these behavioral and psychophysiological techniques with neuroimaging will be useful toward addressing how one process may modulate the other and understanding whether these phenomena are manifestations of dysfunction within a shared neural network. Ultimately, this may serve to inform PTSD treatments specifically designed to correct these atypical processes.

scholarly journals Hippocampal Threat Reactivity Interacts with Physiological Arousal to Predict PTSD Symptoms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Büsra Tanriverdi ◽  
David F. Gregory ◽  
Timothy D Ely ◽  
Nathaniel G Harnett ◽  
Sanne J H van Rooij ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Hippocampal Function ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Threat Sensitivity ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Fear Potentiated Startle ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
High Threat

Prior studies highlight how threat-related arousal may impair hippocampal function. Hippocampal impairments are reliably associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, little research has characterized how increased threat-sensitivity may drive arousal responses to alter hippocampal reactivity, and further how these alterations relate to the sequelae of trauma-related symptoms. In a sample of individuals recently exposed to trauma (N=117, 76 Female), we found that PTSD symptoms at 2-weeks and 3-months were associated with decreased hippocampal responses to threat as assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Further, decreased hippocampal threat sensitivity was predicted by individual differences in fear-potentiated startle, an arousal-mediated behavior. Critically, the relationship between hippocampal threat sensitivity and PTSD symptomology only emerged in individuals who showed high threat-related arousal. Collectively, our finding suggests that development of PTSD is associated with threat-related decreases in hippocampal function, due to increases in fear-potentiated arousal.

scholarly journals Value Estimation and Latent-State Update-Related Neural Activity During Fear Conditioning Predict Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Severity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Letkiewicz ◽  
Amy L. Cochran ◽  
Anthony Privatsky ◽  
G. Andrew James ◽  
Josh M. Cisler
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
State Model ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Value Estimation

Learning theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) purport that fear learning processes, such as those that support fear acquisition and extinction, are impaired. Computational models that aim to capture specific processes involved in fear learning have primarily assessed model free, or trial-and-error, reinforcement learning (RL). Although prior research indicates that aspects of model-free RL are disrupted among individuals with PTSD, models have yet to quantify and identify whether more nuanced, contextually driven learning is also disrupted. Given empirical evidence of aberrant contextual modulation of fear in PTSD, the present study sought to identify whether model-based RL processes are altered during fear conditioning among women with interpersonal violence (IPV)-related PTSD (n=85) using computational modeling. Several traditional models and a latent-state model that captured model-based RL were applied to skin conductance responses (SCR) collected during fear acquisition and extinction, and the latent-state model was identified as the best fitting model. Model-derived parameters from the latent-state model were carried forward to neuroimaging analyses (voxel-wise and independent component analysis) and results revealed that reduced latent-state related activity within visual processing regions uniquely predicted higher PTSD symptoms. Additionally, after controlling for latent-state update-related encoding, greater value estimation encoding within the left frontoparietal network during fear acquisition and reduced value estimation encoding within the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during fear extinction predicted greater PTSD symptoms. Results provide evidence of disrupted model-based RL processes in women with IPV-related PTSD, which may contribute to difficulties revising fear and safety information. Future work should further assess model-based RL in PTSD.

Social Support, Emotional Intelligence, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Hofman ◽  
Austin M. Hahn ◽  
Christine K. Tirabassi ◽  
Raluca M. Gaher
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Exposure to traumatic events and the associated risk of developing Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms is a significant and overlooked concern in the college population. It is important for current research to identify potential protective factors associated with the development and maintenance of PTSD symptoms unique to this population. Emotional intelligence and perceived social support are two identified protective factors that influence the association between exposure to traumatic events and PTSD symptomology. The current study examined the mediating role of social support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and PTSD symptoms. Participants included 443 trauma-exposed university students who completed online questionnaires. The results of this study indicated that social support mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and reported PTSD symptoms. Thus, emotional intelligence is significantly associated with PTSD symptoms and social support may play an integral role in the relationship between emotional intelligence and PTSD. The current study is the first to investigate the role of social support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and PTSD symptoms. These findings have important treatment and prevention implications with regard to PTSD.

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