Broadening the scope: Multiple functional connectivity networks underlying threat conditioning and extinction

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Threat learning is fundamental to anxiety and fear-related disorders.
• Previous research focused on specific brain regions, limiting understanding of whole-brain dynamics.
• Investigating large-scale brain networks is essential for understanding human fear-related disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine whole-brain functional connectivity networks during threat learning using fMRI.
• To identify networks involved in threat acquisition, extinction, and extinction recall.
• To understand the interplay of brain networks in threat and safety learning.

Main Methods:

• 223 participants underwent a 2-day Pavlovian threat conditioning paradigm with fMRI.
• Data-driven group independent component analysis (ICA) was used to analyze functional connectivity.
• Connectivity was assessed during threat acquisition, extinction, and extinction recall phases.

Main Results:

• A network including the default mode network (hippocampus, vmPFC, posterior cingulate) was involved in threat acquisition and extinction.
• A salience network (dACC, mPFC, inferior frontal gyrus) was implicated in threat acquisition and extinction recall.
• Other networks (salience, somatomotor, visual, frontoparietal) contributed to threat acquisition or extinction.

Conclusions:

• Threat learning involves the coordinated function of multiple, spatially independent brain networks.
• These networks operate in parallel, performing distinct functions across different timescales.
• Understanding these network dynamics is critical for comprehending the neuropathology of anxiety and fear disorders.