Fear conditioning is a psychological experiment that teaches the brain to fear a certain stimulus and physical environment. The neuroscience of fear conditioning helps explain how our brains learn to fear particular things and experiences. In the brain, it mainly involves the hippocampus, frontal lobes, and amygdala. This understanding is leading neuroscientists to discover new therapeutic approaches for anxiety disorders.

This video explores fear conditioning (and a related process called “fear extinction”), including how it works, the neural circuits responsible, and how this understanding is helping psychiatrists to treat anxiety.

Chapters
00:00 The neuroscience of fear conditioning helps explain how our brains learn to fear things
00:36 Fear Conditioning and Extinction
01:29 Unconditioned vs Conditioned Stimulus
01:50 The Freeze Response
02:32 Fear Extinction
03:27 Fear Conditioning Mechanisms in The Brain
08:50 Disrupting Fear Memories
11:25 Strengthening Extinction Memories in Human Clinical Fear Conditioning Paradigms
13:11 rTMS for anxiety?
14:10 Conclusion: Learn to Unlearn Your Fears


References:
1. Fear Conditioning | Behavioral and Functional Neuroscience Laboratory | Stanford Medicine

2. Eilam, D. (2005). Die hard: a blend of freezing and fleeing as a dynamic defense—implications for the control of defensive behavior. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 29(8), 11811191.

3. Fullana, M. A., Dunsmoor, J. E., Schruers, K. R. J., Savage, H. S., Bach, D. R., & Harrison, B. J. (2020). Human fear conditioning: From neuroscience to the clinic. Behaviour research and therapy, 124, 103528. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

4. Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). Behave: The biology of humans at our best and worst. Penguin.

5. Tovote, P., Esposito, M. S., Botta, P., Chaudun, F., Fadok, J. P., Markovic, M., ... & Lüthi, A. (2016). Midbrain circuits for defensive behaviour. Nature, 534(7606), 206212. https://www.nature.com/articles/natur...

6. Maren, S., Phan, K. L., & Liberzon, I. (2013). The contextual brain: implications for fear conditioning, extinction and psychopathology. Nature reviews neuroscience, 14(6), 417428. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn34...

7. Fullana, M. A., Harrison, B. J., SorianoMas, C., Vervliet, B., Cardoner, N., ÀvilaParcet, A., & Radua, J. (2016). Neural signatures of human fear conditioning: an updated and extended metaanalysis of fMRI studies. Molecular psychiatry, 21(4), 500508. https://www.nature.com/articles/mp201588

8. https://www.webmd.com/anxietypanic/g...

9. https://www.apa.org/ptsdguideline/pa...

10. Hofmann, S. G. (2014). Dcycloserine for treating anxiety disorders: making good exposures better and bad exposures worse. Depression and anxiety, 31(3), 175. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

11. Raij, T., Nummenmaa, A., Marin, M. F., Porter, D., Furtak, S., Setsompop, K., & Milad, M. R. (2018). Prefrontal cortex stimulation enhances fear extinction memory in humans. Biological psychiatry, 84(2), 129137. https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjourn...

12. Hoeffer, C. A., Cowansage, K. K., Arnold, E. C., Banko, J. L., Moerke, N. J., Rodriguez, R., ... & Klann, E. (2011). Inhibition of the interactions between eukaryotic initiation factors 4E and 4G impairs longterm associative memory consolidation but not reconsolidation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(8), 33833388. https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073...


Images:
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Insular cortex image: Frank Gaillard (Creative Commons), radiopaedia.org
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3D Brain Animations:
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Thanks for your time and I hope you have a great day.
Andrew

#fearconditioning #neuroscience101 #anxietyrelief