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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 1, 2026

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear

Published on: August 24, 2012

Rethinking Extinction.

Joseph E Dunsmoor¹, Yael Niv², Nathaniel Daw²

¹Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.

|October 9, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Extinction learning diminishes learned behaviors by removing reinforcement. This review examines extinction

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Learning and Memory
Behavioral Psychology

Background:

Extinction is a primary model for understanding how learned behaviors decrease when reinforcement is absent.
Interest in extinction has expanded from associative learning to encompass the neuroscience of learning, memory, and emotion.
Traditional views of extinction as simple forgetting or new inhibitory learning are being re-evaluated.

Purpose of the Study:

To review current research and theories on extinction as both a learning process and a behavioral technique.
To re-examine traditional understandings of extinction in light of recent neurobiological and computational advances.
To explore the limitations of extinction in preventing relapse of maladaptive behaviors and propose novel augmentation strategies.

Main Methods:

Comprehensive review of existing literature on extinction research and theory.
Analysis of neurobiological, cognitive, and computational factors influencing extinction.
Revisiting predominant theoretical views on memory interference and new learning during extinction.

Main Results:

Extinction involves complex neurobiological and cognitive processes, not just simple forgetting or inhibition.
The predominant view suggests extinction involves new learning that interferes with the original memory's expression.
Traditional extinction methods have limitations in preventing relapse of maladaptive behaviors.

Conclusions:

Extinction is a dynamic learning process with significant implications for memory and emotion.
Contemporary theoretical advances necessitate a re-evaluation of traditional extinction paradigms.
Novel approaches augmenting extinction show promise for more effectively targeting and altering maladaptive memories.