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Updated: Jul 20, 2025

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
Published on: August 24, 2012
Understanding Human Fear Extinction: Insights from Psychophysiology
Jessica Woodford1, Manessa Riser1, Seth Davin Norrholm2,3
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Neuroscience Center for Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
Abstract:
The study of fear extinction has been driven largely by Pavlovian fear conditioning methods across the translational spectrum. The primary methods used to study these processes in humans have been recordings of skin conductance (historically termed galvanic skin response) and fear-potentiation of the acoustic startle reflex. As outlined in the following chapter, the combined corpus of this work has demonstrated the value of psychophysiology in better understanding the underlying neurobiology of extinction learning in healthy humans as well as those with psychopathologies. In addition, psychophysiological approaches, which allow for the preservation of methods between species, have shown their applicability to the assessment of wide-ranging treatment effects. The chapter concludes with potential trajectories for future study in this area.
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