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Extinction in multiple virtual reality contexts diminishes fear reinstatement in humans
2014 (English)In: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, ISSN 1074-7427, E-ISSN 1095-9564, Vol. 113, p. 157-164Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Although conditioned fear can be effectively extinguished by unreinforced exposure to a threat cue, fear responses tend to return when the cue is encountered some time after extinction (spontaneous recovery), in a novel environment (renewal), or following presentation of an aversive stimulus (reinstatement). As extinction represents a context-dependent form of new learning, one possible strategy to circumvent the return of fear is to conduct extinction across several environments. Here, we tested the effectiveness of multiple context extinction in a two-day fear conditioning experiment using 3-D virtual reality technology to create immersive, ecologically-valid context changes. Fear-potentiated startle served as the dependent measure. All three experimental groups initially acquired fear in a single context. A multiple extinction group then underwent extinction in three contexts, while a second group underwent extinction in the acquisition context and a third group underwent extinction in a single different context. All groups returned 24h later to test for return of fear in the extinction context (spontaneous recovery) and a novel context (renewal and reinstatement/test). Extinction in multiple contexts attenuated reinstatement of fear but did not reduce spontaneous recovery. Results from fear renewal were tendential. Our findings suggest that multi-context extinction can reduce fear relapse following an aversive event--an event that often induces return of fear in real-world settings--and provides empirical support for conducting exposure-based clinical treatments across a variety of environments.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2014. Vol. 113, p. 157-164
Keywords [en]
Anxiety, Extinction, Fear conditioning, Fear-potentiated startle, Virtual reality
National Category
Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-38893DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2014.02.010PubMedID: 24583374OAI: oai:DiVA.org:miun-38893DiVA, id: diva2:1423376
Available from: 2020-04-14 Created: 2020-04-14 Last updated: 2020-05-08Bibliographically approved

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Åhs, Fredrik

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf