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Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
Published on: August 24, 2012
Context-dependent human extinction memory is mediated by a ventromedial prefrontal and hippocampal network
Raffael Kalisch1, Elian Korenfeld, Klaas E Stephan
1Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, Functional Imaging Laboratory, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom. rkalisch@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Summary
Fear extinction learning creates new memories that inhibit fear responses. This study shows that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus work together for context-dependent recall of extinction memory in humans.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Fear extinction involves learning that a conditioned stimulus (CS) no longer predicts a noxious unconditioned stimulus (UCS).
- This process creates a new memory trace that competes with the original fear memory, inhibiting the conditioned response (CR).
- Contextual cues present during extinction training facilitate the recall of this extinction memory.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying context-dependent recall of fear extinction memory in humans.
- To examine the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and hippocampus in this process.
- To determine if the VMPFC-hippocampal network activity is modulated by the context of extinction recall.
Main Methods:
- Utilized neuroimaging techniques to measure brain activity in human participants.
- Assessed the engagement of the VMPFC and hippocampus during recall of extinction memory in different contexts.
- Analyzed the correlation between VMPFC and hippocampal activity in relation to context.
Main Results:
- CS-evoked engagement of the VMPFC and hippocampus was context-dependent, observed in the extinction context but not the conditioning context.
- A positive correlation between VMPFC and hippocampal activity was also found to be extinction context-dependent.
- These findings align with theoretical predictions from animal studies on fear extinction.
Conclusions:
- A VMPFC-hippocampal network supports context-dependent recall of human extinction memory.
- The hippocampus appears to confer context dependence to the VMPFC in the recall of extinction memories.
- This network mechanism is crucial for inhibiting previously learned fear responses in specific contexts.
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