Temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: Unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding

In associative learning, if stimulus A is presented in the same temporal context as the conditional stimulus (CS) - outcome association (but not in a way that allows an A–CS association to form) it becomes a temporal context cue, acquiring the ability to activate this context and retrieve the CS-out...

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Main Authors: Luck, Camilla, Bramwell, S., Kerin, J., Green, L., Craig, Belinda, Lipp, Ottmar
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69645
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author Luck, Camilla
Bramwell, S.
Kerin, J.
Green, L.
Craig, Belinda
Lipp, Ottmar
author_facet Luck, Camilla
Bramwell, S.
Kerin, J.
Green, L.
Craig, Belinda
Lipp, Ottmar
author_sort Luck, Camilla
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In associative learning, if stimulus A is presented in the same temporal context as the conditional stimulus (CS) - outcome association (but not in a way that allows an A–CS association to form) it becomes a temporal context cue, acquiring the ability to activate this context and retrieve the CS-outcome association. We examined whether a CS- presented during acquisition or extinction that predicted the absence of the unconditional stimulus (US) could act as a temporal context cue, reducing or enhancing responding, in differential fear conditioning. Two groups received acquisition (CSx–US, CSa–noUS) in phase 1 and extinction (CSx–noUS; CSe–noUS) in phase 2 (AE groups), and two groups received extinction in phase 1 and acquisition in phase 2 (EA groups). After a delay, participants were presented with either CSa (AEa and EAa groups) or CSe (AEe and EAe groups). Responding to CSx was enhanced after presentation of CSa but reduced after presentation of CSe, suggesting that training was segmented into two learning episodes and that the unreinforced CS present during an episode retrieved the CSx–US or CSx–noUS association. These findings suggest that temporal context cues may enhance or reduce fear responding, providing an exciting new avenue for relapse prevention research.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-696452020-06-23T07:27:37Z Temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: Unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding Luck, Camilla Bramwell, S. Kerin, J. Green, L. Craig, Belinda Lipp, Ottmar In associative learning, if stimulus A is presented in the same temporal context as the conditional stimulus (CS) - outcome association (but not in a way that allows an A–CS association to form) it becomes a temporal context cue, acquiring the ability to activate this context and retrieve the CS-outcome association. We examined whether a CS- presented during acquisition or extinction that predicted the absence of the unconditional stimulus (US) could act as a temporal context cue, reducing or enhancing responding, in differential fear conditioning. Two groups received acquisition (CSx–US, CSa–noUS) in phase 1 and extinction (CSx–noUS; CSe–noUS) in phase 2 (AE groups), and two groups received extinction in phase 1 and acquisition in phase 2 (EA groups). After a delay, participants were presented with either CSa (AEa and EAa groups) or CSe (AEe and EAe groups). Responding to CSx was enhanced after presentation of CSa but reduced after presentation of CSe, suggesting that training was segmented into two learning episodes and that the unreinforced CS present during an episode retrieved the CSx–US or CSx–noUS association. These findings suggest that temporal context cues may enhance or reduce fear responding, providing an exciting new avenue for relapse prevention research. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69645 10.1016/j.brat.2018.06.004 Elsevier fulltext
spellingShingle Luck, Camilla
Bramwell, S.
Kerin, J.
Green, L.
Craig, Belinda
Lipp, Ottmar
Temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: Unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding
title Temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: Unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding
title_full Temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: Unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding
title_fullStr Temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: Unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding
title_full_unstemmed Temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: Unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding
title_short Temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: Unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding
title_sort temporal context cues in human fear conditioning: unreinforced conditional stimuli can segment learning into distinct temporal contexts and drive fear responding
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69645