Author:
Myers Karyn M.,Davis Michael
Abstract
The neural mechanisms of fear suppression most commonly are studied through
the use of extinction, a behavioral procedure in which a feared stimulus
(i.e., one previously paired with shock) is nonreinforced repeatedly, leading
to a reduction or elimination of the fear response. Although extinction is
perhaps the most convenient index of fear inhibition, a great deal of
behavioral work suggests that postextinction training conditioned stimuli are
both excitatory and inhibitory, making it difficult to determine whether a
neural manipulation affects inhibition, excitation, or some combination
thereof. For this reason we sought to develop a behavioral procedure that
would render a stimulus primarily inhibitory while at the same time avoiding
some of the issues raised by the traditional conditioned inhibition paradigm,
namely second-order conditioning, external inhibition, and configural
learning. Using the fear-potentiated startle paradigm, we adapted an AX+, BX-
training procedure in which stimuli A and X were presented simultaneously and
paired with shock, and stimuli B and X were presented simultaneously in the
absence of shock. In testing, high levels of fear-potentiated startle were
seen in the presence of A and AX and much lower levels were seen in the
presence of B and AB, as would be predicted if stimulus B were a conditioned
inhibitor. We believe this method is a viable alternative to the traditional
conditioned inhibition training procedure and will be useful for studying the
neural mechanisms of fear inhibition.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Subject
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience,Cognitive Neuroscience,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Cited by
74 articles.
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