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Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
Published on: August 24, 2012
Secondary extinction in Pavlovian fear conditioning
1Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Ave., Burlington, VT 05401-0134, USA.
Learning & Behavior
|February 3, 2011
Summary
Extinguishing one conditioned stimulus (CS) can reduce responses to other CSs. This secondary extinction effect was observed when stimuli shared a common temporal context during conditioning.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral neuroscience
- Learning and memory
Background:
- Pavlov reported secondary extinction, where extinguishing one conditioned stimulus (CS) affects others.
- This phenomenon has seen limited replication in recent studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the conditions influencing secondary extinction.
- Explore the role of prior extinction and temporal context in this effect.
Main Methods:
- Three conditioned suppression experiments were conducted using rats.
- Varied extinction procedures and conditioning contexts for different conditioned stimuli (CSs).
Main Results:
- Secondary extinction occurred even with a non-extinguished target CS.
- Extinguishing one CS reduced renewal of a second CS in a neutral context.
- Intermixed conditioning facilitated secondary extinction, while separate conditioning did not.
Conclusions:
- Secondary extinction is influenced by the temporal association between conditioned stimuli (CSs) during conditioning.
- The findings support the hypothesis that a common temporal context is crucial for secondary extinction.
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