scholarly journals Thought Conditioning: Inducing and Reducing Thoughts About the Aversive Outcome in a Fear-Conditioning Procedure

2021 ◽  
pp. 216770262095422
Author(s):  
Ann-Kathrin Zenses ◽  
Frank Baeyens ◽  
Tom Beckers ◽  
Yannick Boddez
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Clinical Relevance ◽  
Extinction Training ◽  
Aversive Event ◽  
Theoretical Interest ◽  
Conditioning Procedure ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Initial Outcome ◽  
Positive Stimuli

The human fear-conditioning paradigm is a widely used procedure to study anxiety. However, merely thinking about the aversive outcome is typically not measured in this procedure. This is surprising because thinking of an aversive event is of clinical relevance (e.g., in the form of intrusions) and theoretical interest. We present two preregistered studies that (a) included thinking of an aversive outcome as an additional dependent variable and (b) compared several interventions to reduce it. We found that mere thinking of an aversive outcome could be successfully conditioned. Among the participants who showed successful acquisition, extinction training was less successful in reducing it than counterconditioning. Presenting new additional outcomes also proved effective to reduce thoughts about the initial outcome when the new outcomes were positive stimuli. Including thinking of the aversive outcome as an additional dependent variable may serve to enhance the understanding of anxiety-related disorders and inform their treatment.

scholarly journals Vicarious conditioned fear acquisition and extinction in child–parent dyads

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-France Marin ◽  
Alexe Bilodeau-Houle ◽  
Simon Morand-Beaulieu ◽  
Alexandra Brouillard ◽  
Ryan J. Herringa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Conditioned Fear ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Actual Process ◽  
Conditioning Procedure ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Extinction Process ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Fear And Anxiety

Abstract The biological mechanisms involved in fear transmission within families have been scarcely investigated in humans. Here we studied (1) how children acquired conditioned fear from observing their parent, or a stranger, being exposed to a fear conditioning paradigm, and (2) the subsequent fear extinction process in these children. Eighty-three child-parent dyads were recruited. The parent was filmed while undergoing a conditioning procedure where one cue was paired with a shock (CS + Parent) and one was not (CS −). Children (8 to 12 years old) watched this video and a video of an adult stranger who underwent conditioning with a different cue reinforced (CS + Stranger). Children were then exposed to all cues (no shocks were delivered) while skin conductance responses (SCR) were recorded. Children exhibited higher SCR to the CS + Parent and CS + Stranger relative to the CS −. Physiological synchronization between the child’s SCR during observational learning and the parent’s SCR during the actual process of fear conditioning predicted higher SCR for the child to the CS + Parent. Our data suggest that children acquire fear vicariously and this can be measured physiologically. These data lay the foundation to examine observational fear learning mechanisms that might contribute to fear and anxiety disorders transmission in clinically affected families.

Valence Asymmetry in Attitude Formation

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 650-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie J. Shook ◽  
Russ Clay
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Evaluative Conditioning ◽  
Attitude Formation ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Negative Images ◽  
The World ◽  
Positive Stimuli ◽  
Negative Stimuli

A considerable amount of research indicates that political conservatives and liberals perceive their social worlds very differently, with conservatives perceiving the world more negatively than liberals. Two studies examined how these varying perceptions may develop by exploring the relation between political ideology and attitude formation. In both studies, participants completed an evaluative conditioning paradigm in which novel stimuli were paired with either positive or negative images. Political conservatives were more susceptible to conditioning with negative stimuli than conditioning with positive stimuli as compared to political liberals. Specifically, conservatives were less susceptible to conditioning with positive stimuli than liberals. Conditioning with negative stimuli did not differ by political ideology. These findings suggest fundamental differences in the formation of positive versus negative attitudes between conservatives and liberals.

scholarly journals Sleep and conditioning of the siphon withdrawal reflex in Aplysia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrin I. Thiede ◽  
Jan Born ◽  
Albrecht P. A. Vorster
Keyword(s):  
Conditioned Stimulus ◽  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Tactile Stimulus ◽  
Aplysia Californica ◽  
Extinction Training ◽  
Reflex Response ◽  
Conditioning Procedure ◽  
Withdrawal Reflex ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Classical Conditioning Procedure

Sleep is essential for memory consolidation after learning as shown in mammals and invertebrates such as bees and flies. Aplysia californica displays sleep and sleep in this mollusk was also found to support memory for an operant conditioning task. Here, we investigated whether sleep in Aplysia is also required for memory consolidation in a simpler type of learning, i.e., the conditioning of the siphon withdrawal reflex. Two groups of animals (Wake, Sleep, each n=11) were conditioned on the siphon withdrawal reflex with the training following a classical conditioning procedure where an electrical tail shock served as unconditioned stimulus (US) and a tactile stimulus to the siphon as conditioned stimulus (CS). Responses to the CS were tested before (Pre-test), 24 and 48 hours after training. While Wake animals remained awake for 6 hours after training, Sleep animals had undisturbed sleep. The 24h-test in both groups was combined with extinction training, i.e., the extended presentation of the CS alone over two blocks. At the 24h-test, siphon withdrawal durations to the CS were distinctly enhanced in both Sleep and Wake groups with no significant difference between groups, consistent with the view that consolidation of a simple conditioned reflex response does not require post-training sleep. Surprisingly, extinction training did not reverse the enhancement of responses to the CS. On the contrary, at the 48h-test, withdrawal durations to the CS were even further enhanced across both groups. This suggests that processes of sensitization, an even simpler non-associative type of learning, contributed to the withdrawal responses. Our study provides evidence for the hypothesis that sleep preferentially benefits consolidation of more complex learning paradigms than conditioning of simple reflexes.

scholarly journals Effects of intolerance of uncertainty on subjective and psychophysiological measures during fear acquisition and delayed extinction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maren Klingelhöfer-Jens ◽  
Jayne Morriss ◽  
Tina B Lonsdorf
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Intolerance Of Uncertainty ◽  
Acquisition Training ◽  
Extinction Training ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Psychophysiological Measures ◽  
Learned Fear ◽  
Startle Blink

Individuals who score high in self-reported Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) tend to find uncertainty unacceptable and aversive. In recent years, research has shed light on the role of IU in modulating subjective (i.e. expectancy ratings) and psychophysiological responses (i.e. skin conductance) across different classical fear conditioning procedures, particularly that of immediate extinction. However, there remain gaps in understanding how IU, in comparison to other negative emotionality traits (STAI-T), impact different types of subjective and psychophysiological measures during different classical fear conditioning procedures. Here, we analyzed IU, STAI-T, subjective (i.e. fear ratings) and psychophysiological (i.e. skin conductance, auditory startle blink) data recorded during fear acquisition training and 24h-delayed extinction training (n = 66). Higher IU, over STAI-T, was: (1) significantly associated with greater fear ratings to the learned fear cue during fear acquisition training, and (2) at trend associated with greater fear ratings to the learned fear versus safe cue during delayed extinction training. Both IU and STAI-T were not related to skin conductance or auditory startle blink during fear acquisition training and delayed extinction training. These results add to and extend our current understanding of the role of IU on subjective and physiological measures during different fear conditioning procedures, particularly that of delayed extinction training. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.

scholarly journals Postural freezing relates to startle potentiation in a human fear‐conditioning paradigm

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa A. van Ast ◽  
Floris Klumpers ◽  
Raoul P. P. P. Grasman ◽  
Angelos‐Miltiadis Krypotos ◽  
Karin Roelofs
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Startle Potentiation

scholarly journals Threat imminence dictates the role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in contextual fear

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis D. Goode ◽  
Gillian M. Acca ◽  
Stephen Maren
Keyword(s):  
Unconditioned Stimulus ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Stria Terminalis ◽  
Conditioning Procedure ◽  
Conditioned Stimuli ◽  
Reversible Inactivation ◽  
Bed Nucleus ◽  
Contextual Fear ◽  
Context Dependent

ABSTRACTPrevious work indicates that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is involved in defensive freezing to unpredictable Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (Goode et al., 2019). Here we show that the BNST mediates freezing to contexts paired with remote (unpredictable), but not imminent (predictable), footshock. Rats underwent a fear conditioning procedure in which a single footshock unconditioned stimulus (US) was delivered either 1 (imminent) or 9 minutes (remote) after placement in the context; each rat received a total of four conditioning trials over two days. Contexts associated with either imminent or remote USs produced distinct patterns of freezing and shock-induced activity but freezing in each case was context-dependent. Reversible inactivation of the BNST reduced the expression of contextual freezing in the context paired with remote, but not imminent, footshock. Implications of these data are discussed in light of recent conceptualizations of BNST function, as well as for anxiety behaviors.

Postural freezing foretells startle-potentiation in a human fear-conditioning paradigm

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa van Ast ◽  
Floris Klumpers ◽  
Raoul P P P Grasman ◽  
Angelos-Miltiadis Krypotos ◽  
Karin Roelofs
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Startle Magnitude ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Human Conditioning ◽  
Conditioned Freezing ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
Active Preparation

Freezing to impending threat is a core defensive response. It has been studied primarily using fear-conditioning in non-human animals, thwarting advances in translational human anxiety-research. Here we examine postural freezing as a human conditioning-index for translational anxiety-research. We show (n=28) that human freezing is highly sensitive to fear-conditioning, generalizes to ambiguous contexts, and amplifies with threat-imminence. Intriguingly, stronger parasympathetically-driven freezing under threat, but not sympathetically-mediated skin conductance, predicts subsequent startle magnitude. These results demonstrate that humans show fear-conditioned animal-like freezing responses, known to aid in active preparation for unexpected attack, and that freezing captures real-life anxiety-expression. Conditioned freezing offers a promising new, non-invasive, and continuous, readout for human fear-conditioning, paving the way for future translational studies into human fear and anxiety.

scholarly journals Slow Late Component in Conditioned Stimulus-Evoked Potentials From the Amygdala After Fear Conditioning in the Rat

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. J. Knippenberg ◽  
E. L. J. M. van Luijtelaar ◽  
J. H. R. Maes
Keyword(s):  
Evoked Potentials ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Slow Component ◽  
Pavlovian Fear Conditioning ◽  
Late Component ◽  
Conditioning Procedure ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Male Wistar Rats ◽  
Lateral Nucleus

Male Wistar rats were subjected to a differential Pavlovian fear conditioning procedure in which one of two tones (6 or 10 kHz) was followed by an electric shock (CS+) and the other was not (CS-). Before and after fear conditioning, we recorded the evoked potentials elicited byCS+andCS-from electrodes aimed at the lateral nucleus of the amygdala. Before conditioning, a slow, negative component with peak amplitude around 150 ms was present in the evoked potentials. This component was sensitive to habituation. After fear conditioning, bothCS+andCS-elicited the same late component, albeit with a larger amplitude. This enhancement was temporary: decreasing amplitude was observed in the course of CS test presentations under extinction. Prior research revealed a comparable slow component in the amygdala of the cat under similar experimental conditions. The collective results indicate that the large late component in the amygdala is enhanced by fear conditioning, suggesting that such enhancement reflects the anticipation of a biologically significant event.

scholarly journals Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. e100131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Hoge ◽  
Eric Bui ◽  
Peter Rosencrans ◽  
Scott Orr ◽  
Rachel Ross ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Skin Conductance Response ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Drug Trials ◽  
Conditioning Procedure ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Healthy Humans ◽  
Main Effects

BackgroundAlthough recent data in healthy humans suggestthat treatment with intranasal oxytocin (OT) may facilitate extinction recall,to date, little is known about the effects of OT on memory consolidationprocesses.AimTo examine the effect of intranasal administration of OT compared with placebo on memory consolidation blockade of a de novo fear memory in a classical 2-day fear conditioning procedure.ResultsThere were no significant differences between the OT and the placebo groups on the first two extinction trials (mean (SD)=0.01 (0.39) vs 0.15 (0.31), t=−1.092, p=0.28). Similarly, during early extinction, analysis of variance for repeated measures failed to show significant main effects of extinction trials: trials (F(4, 112)=1.58, p=0.18), drug (F(1, 112)=0.13, p=0.72) or drug × trials interaction (F(4, 112)=0.76, p=0.56).ConclusionOur results suggest that OT administered in a double-blind fashion immediately after fear conditioning does not significantly reduce consolidation of fear learning as measured by a differential skin conductance response tested at the beginning of extinction.

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