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Updated: May 7, 2026

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
Published on: August 24, 2012
Stimulus-specific enhancement of fear extinction during slow-wave sleep
Katherina K Hauner1, James D Howard, Christina Zelano
1Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Abstract:
Sleep can strengthen memory for emotional information, but whether emotional memories can be specifically targeted and modified during sleep is unknown. In human subjects who underwent olfactory contextual fear conditioning, re-exposure to the odorant context in slow-wave sleep promoted stimulus-specific fear extinction, with parallel reductions of hippocampal activity and reorganization of amygdala ensemble patterns. Thus, fear extinction may be selectively enhanced during sleep, even without re-exposure to the feared stimulus itself.
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