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The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans
Fear generalization is an etiologically significant indicator of anxiety disorders, and understanding how to inhibit it is important in their treatment. Prior studies have found that reducing fear generalization using a generalization stimulus (GS) is ineffective in removing a conditioned fear that...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2018
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5882815/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29643824 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00409 |
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author | Xu, Liang Su, Hongyu Xie, Xiaoyuan Yan, Pei Li, Junjiao Zheng, Xifu |
author_facet | Xu, Liang Su, Hongyu Xie, Xiaoyuan Yan, Pei Li, Junjiao Zheng, Xifu |
author_sort | Xu, Liang |
collection | PubMed |
description | Fear generalization is an etiologically significant indicator of anxiety disorders, and understanding how to inhibit it is important in their treatment. Prior studies have found that reducing fear generalization using a generalization stimulus (GS) is ineffective in removing a conditioned fear that incorporates local features, and that topological properties appear to play a comparatively more significant role in the processes of perception and categorization. Our study utilized a conditioned-fear generalization design to examine whether the topological properties of stimuli influence the generalization and return of fear. Fear was indexed using online expectancy ratings and skin conductance responses (SCRs). The study’s 52 participants were divided into three groups: Group 1, conditioned danger cue (CS+) extinction; Group 2, extinction of one GS; Group 3, extinction of three GSs. We found that the three groups acquired conditioned fear at the same level. In the generalization and extinction phase, fear was transferred to the GS with the same topological properties as CS+, and gradual decreases in both shock expectancy and SCRs over non-reinforced extinction trials were observed. In the test phase, participants’ online expectancy ratings indicated that fear did not return in Group 1, but did return in Groups 2 and 3. All three groups demonstrated successful GS fear extinction, but only Group 1 did not show a return of fear for CS+. Regarding SCRs results, none of the groups demonstrated a return of fear, suggesting that utilization of topological properties successfully reduced the return of conditioned fear. Our results indicate that, in clinical settings, using GS with topological equivalence to CS+ might offer a potential method with which to extinct conditioned fear. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5882815 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-58828152018-04-11 The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans Xu, Liang Su, Hongyu Xie, Xiaoyuan Yan, Pei Li, Junjiao Zheng, Xifu Front Psychol Psychology Fear generalization is an etiologically significant indicator of anxiety disorders, and understanding how to inhibit it is important in their treatment. Prior studies have found that reducing fear generalization using a generalization stimulus (GS) is ineffective in removing a conditioned fear that incorporates local features, and that topological properties appear to play a comparatively more significant role in the processes of perception and categorization. Our study utilized a conditioned-fear generalization design to examine whether the topological properties of stimuli influence the generalization and return of fear. Fear was indexed using online expectancy ratings and skin conductance responses (SCRs). The study’s 52 participants were divided into three groups: Group 1, conditioned danger cue (CS+) extinction; Group 2, extinction of one GS; Group 3, extinction of three GSs. We found that the three groups acquired conditioned fear at the same level. In the generalization and extinction phase, fear was transferred to the GS with the same topological properties as CS+, and gradual decreases in both shock expectancy and SCRs over non-reinforced extinction trials were observed. In the test phase, participants’ online expectancy ratings indicated that fear did not return in Group 1, but did return in Groups 2 and 3. All three groups demonstrated successful GS fear extinction, but only Group 1 did not show a return of fear for CS+. Regarding SCRs results, none of the groups demonstrated a return of fear, suggesting that utilization of topological properties successfully reduced the return of conditioned fear. Our results indicate that, in clinical settings, using GS with topological equivalence to CS+ might offer a potential method with which to extinct conditioned fear. Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-03-28 /pmc/articles/PMC5882815/ /pubmed/29643824 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00409 Text en Copyright © 2018 Xu, Su, Xie, Yan, Li and Zheng. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Psychology Xu, Liang Su, Hongyu Xie, Xiaoyuan Yan, Pei Li, Junjiao Zheng, Xifu The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans |
title | The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans |
title_full | The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans |
title_fullStr | The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans |
title_full_unstemmed | The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans |
title_short | The Topological Properties of Stimuli Influence Fear Generalization and Extinction in Humans |
title_sort | topological properties of stimuli influence fear generalization and extinction in humans |
topic | Psychology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5882815/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29643824 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00409 |
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