Behavioral techniques for attenuating the expression of fear associations in an animal model of anxiety
Author
dc.contributor.author
Laborda Rojas, Mario
Author
dc.contributor.author
Polack, Cody W.
es_CL
Author
dc.contributor.author
Miguez, Gonzalo
es_CL
Author
dc.contributor.author
Miller, Ralph R.
es_CL
Admission date
dc.date.accessioned
2014-12-14T19:02:53Z
Available date
dc.date.available
2014-12-14T19:02:53Z
Publication date
dc.date.issued
2014
Cita de ítem
dc.identifier.citation
J. Behav. Ther. & Exp. Psychiat. 45 (2014) 343e350
en_US
Identifier
dc.identifier.issn
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.02.005
Identifier
dc.identifier.uri
https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/122162
General note
dc.description
Artículo de publicación ISI
en_US
Abstract
dc.description.abstract
Background and objectives: Recent data indicate that extinguished fear often returns when the testing
conditions differ from those of treatment. Several manipulations including extensive extinction training,
extinction in multiple contexts, and spacing the extinction trials and sessions reduce the return of fear.
Moreover, extensive extinction and extinction in multiple contexts summate in reducing return of fear,
and the spacing of the extinction trials and the spacing of extinction sessions summate in reducing return
of fear. Here we evaluated whether these techniques also attenuate the context specificity of latent inhibition,
and whether they summate to further decrease fear responding at test.
Methods: In two experiments, with rats as subjects in a lick suppression preparation, we assessed the
effects of massive CS preexposure, CS preexposure in multiple contexts, and of spacing the CSpreexposure
trials and sessions, in reducing the context specificity of latent inhibition.
Results: Fear responding was attenuated by all four manipulations. Moreover, extensive CS preexposure
in multiple contexts, and conjoint spacing of the CS-preexposure trials and sessions, were more effective
in reducing the context specificity of latent inhibition than each manipulation alone.
Limitations: Our experimental designs evaluated degrees of context specificity of latent inhibition but
omitted groups in which latent inhibition was assessed without a context shift away from the context of
latent inhibition treatment. This precluded us from drawing conclusions concerning absolute (as
opposed to relative) levels of recovery from latent inhibition.
Conclusions: Techniques effective in decreasing the return of conditioned fear following extinction are
also effective in decreasing the context specificity of latent inhibition in an animal model of anxiety. Fear
and anxiety disorders might be prevented in anxious human participants with the same techniques used
here, but that is still an empirical question.