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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
Published on: August 24, 2012
Reinstatement of conditioned responses in human differential fear conditioning
Trinette Dirikx1, Dirk Hermans, Debora Vansteenwegen
1Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Trinette.Dirikx@psy.kuleuven.be
Abstract:
The present study aimed at investigating reinstatement of conditioned responding in human classical conditioning using a differential fear conditioning paradigm. Reinstatement is defined as the return of extinguished conditioned responses due to the experience of one or more unexpected USs. As expected the reinstatement group showed reinstatement of US-expectancy while a similar return of conditioned responses was not present in the control group. In the fear ratings a similar pattern was observed. In addition, and in line with previous findings, we found that the more negative the CS+ remained after extinction, the more return of conditioned responding was observed. Clinical implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.
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