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Effects of Threat Conditioning on the Negative Valanced Systems and Cognitive Systems.

ABSTRACT: Threat conditioning is held as a model of anxiety disorders. However, this approach is focused on implicit responses evaluated in a single day. Here, we evaluated negative-valence, positive-valence and cognitive-systems in order to evaluate the extent to which threat conditioning models anxiety disorders. Subjects underwent threat conditioning and five-minutes (Short-term evaluation) or 48 hs (Long-term evaluation) later, both groups performed several tasks targeting cognitive-systems and valenced-systems. In the short-term evaluation, successful conditioning maintained state-anxiety and increased the aversiveness representation of the CS+ and the valuation for negative events. Reaction-times for the CS+ were faster, reflecting an attentional bias toward threat. In the long-term evaluation, participants represented the CS+ as more aversive and generalized to all stimuli. Reaction-times showed a more restricted attentional bias. Threat conditioning alters the negative-valence systems and creates a cognitive bias, which is transformed by memory consolidation, suggesting that this protocol could be a useful resource to understand the deficits associated with anxiety disorders.

SUBMITTER: Fernandez RS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6060145 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of Threat Conditioning on the Negative Valanced Systems and Cognitive Systems.

Fernández Rodrigo S RS Picco Soledad S Messore Fernando F Pedreira María E ME

Scientific reports 20180725 1

Threat conditioning is held as a model of anxiety disorders. However, this approach is focused on implicit responses evaluated in a single day. Here, we evaluated negative-valence, positive-valence and cognitive-systems in order to evaluate the extent to which threat conditioning models anxiety disorders. Subjects underwent threat conditioning and five-minutes (Short-term evaluation) or 48 hs (Long-term evaluation) later, both groups performed several tasks targeting cognitive-systems and valenc ...[more]

PMID: 30046052

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Project description:Threat conditioning is a common associative learning model with translational relevance. How threat-conditioned cues impact on formally unrelated instrumental behavior in humans is not well known. Such an effect is known as Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT). While PIT with aversive primary Pavlovian reinforcers is established in nonhuman animals, this is less clear in humans, where secondary reinforcers or instructed instrumental responses are most often investigated. We modified an existing human PIT procedure to include primary reinforcers. Participants first learned to obtain (or avoid losing) appetitive instrumental reinforcement (chocolate) by appropriate approach or avoidance actions. They either had to act (Go) or to withhold an action (NoGo), and in the Go condition either to approach a reward target to collect it or to withdraw from the reward target to avoid losing it. Then they learned to associate screen color (CS) with aversive Pavlovian reinforcement (electric shock US). In the transfer phase, we conducted the instrumental task during the presence of Pavlovian CS. In a first experiment, we show that the aversive Pavlovian CS+, compared to CS-, increased response rate in Go-Withdraw trials, i.e., induce conditioned facilitation of avoidance responses. This finding was confirmed in a second and independent experiment with an increased number of Go-Withdraw trials. Notably, we observed no appreciable conditioned suppression of approach responses. Effect size to distinguish CS+/CS- in Go-Withdraw trials was d = 0.42 in the confirmation sample. This would require n = 37 participants to demonstrate threat learning with 80% power. Thus, the effect size is on a practically useful scale although smaller than for model-based analysis of autonomic measures. In summary, our results indicate conditioned facilitation of formally unrelated instrumental avoidance behavior in humans and provide a novel behavioral threat learning measure that requires only key presses.

Project description:RationaleStress is associated with increased sensitivity to threat. Previous investigations examining how stress affects threat processing have largely focused on biomarker responses associated with either the sympathetic-nervous-system (SNS) or the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.ObjectivesWe pharmacologically suppressed activations of SNS, HPA, or both, prior to stress and investigated how each stress system modulates social threat assessment.MethodsOne hundred sixty-one healthy men and women were randomized in a between-subject design, to one of four pharmacological or placebo conditions: dexamethasone-placebo, placebo-propranolol, dexamethasone-propranolol, or placebo-placebo. Participants provided threat assessments for angry and neutral human faces on a baseline day, and immediately after stress induction on a testing day.ResultsWith both systems responding normally to stress (placebo-placebo), threat assessment was higher for neutral faces compared with angry. Compared with placebo, SNS suppression resulted in increased threat assessment for angry faces. HPA suppression resulted in decreased threat assessment for neutral and angry faces. When both systems were suppressed, there was an increase in threat assessment for angry faces, and no difference from placebo for neutral.ConclusionOur findings demonstrated that when intact, the biological stress systems adaptively support organisms during stress by focusing attention towards specific stimuli that are relevant to the threat. Dysregulations of the stress systems result in important system specific consequences on threat evaluation, such that suppression of either stress system alone resulted in reduced threat assessment for contextually relevant threatening stimuli, whereas when both systems were suppressed, individuals appear indiscriminately attentive to all potential threats in the environment, resulting in increased threat processing of both contextually relevant and irrelevant stimuli. Given that stress-related psychopathologies have been associated with dysregulations of the stress systems and biased responses to social threat, a systematic understanding of the mechanisms that underlie how stress systems modulate social threat assessment is needed, and can provide important insights into the cognitive processes that are involved in the development and maintenance of stress-related psychopathologies.

Dataset Information

Effects of Threat Conditioning on the Negative Valanced Systems and Cognitive Systems.

Publications

Effects of Threat Conditioning on the Negative Valanced Systems and Cognitive Systems.

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