Week 2 (A) - Complete Flashcards
(22 cards)
Is fear conditioning associated with classical or operant conditioning?
Classical
Which mofos did the little Albert experiment?
John B Watson and Rosaline Rayner
Fear extinction if as quick and robust as fear conditioning, T/F
FALSE
It takes longer and is more fragile
Fear extinction is context dependent - learning to reduce fear in one context may not translate to another, T/F
TRUE
The new association produced during a fear extinction exercise erases the previous fear conditioning memory trace, T/F
FALSE
It simply inhibits the original. The fear can return
What are the three conditions under which fear can return (following a fear extinction exercise)?
- The passage of time (SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY)
- Being in a new context (RENEWAL)
- Being re-exposed to the US (REINSTATEMENT)
Explain the the FOUR STAGE process by which fear conditioning operates in the brain
- Sensory inputs from (CS) from the auditory and visual cortex
- Pair with pain signals (US) in the BASOLATERAL NUCLEUS of the AMYGDALA
- The conditioned association triggers activation in the CENTRAL NUCLEUS of the AMYGDALA
- AMYGDALA then sends afferents to HYPOTHALAMIC and MIDBRAIN regions that control flight/fight response
What is the difference between the ‘low road’ and the ‘high road’ when it comes to fear
The low road is automatic: sensory input»_space; thalamus»_space; amygdala
The high road is slow, and involves the potential for inhibition:
sensory input»_space; thalamus»_space; cortex AND amygdala
Describe the fear extinction network in rats
- VENTROMEDIAL PFC + HIPPOCAMPUS inhibit the AMYGDALA
What happens if you stimulate the PRELIMBIC (PL) cortex of rats?
- INCREASED fear
2. POOR extinction
What happens if you stimulate the INFRALIMBIC (IL) cortex of rats?
- REDUCED fear
2. GOOD extinction
What is the proposed human homologue of a rat’s PRElimbic cortex (PL) CORTEX?
the dorsal ACC (dACC)
What is the proposed human homologue of a rat’s INFRAliombic (IL) cortex?
The ventromedial PFC (vmPFC)
What two properties of the dorsal ACC (dACC) are associated with fear acquisition?
One is structural and one is functional
- Thickness
2. Activity
What two properties of the ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) are associated with fear extinction?
One is structural and one is functional
- Thickness
2. Activity
Memorise this
Clear evidence from human fear conditioning fMRI studies of a distributed cingulo-frontal network associated with fear conditioning:
activation of dorsal ACC (threat appraisal) and bilateral anterior insula (interoceptive awareness of fear) (Fullana et al., 2016)
Whats the notable difference between the fear conditioning network in humans and rodents, according to neuroimaging studies?
In humans, the amygdala doesn’t appear to be involved
What THREE theories have been proposed for why the amygdala doesn’t show up as part of the human fear conditioning network in fMRI studies?
- resolution of fMRI - can’t image the amygdala’s sub nuclei
- amygdala only gets involved during intense threats, which experiments can’t do
- Amygdala response habituates over multiple trials
I struggled to understand the slides about C- and C+ and anxiety disorders and fear conditioning
better go back and re-listen
PTSD sufferers show signs of greater fear CONDITION-ABILITY than the norm, T/F
FALSE
They show impaired fear EXTINCTION (ie reduced vmPFC activity)
Rodent studies
implicate amygdala in fear conditioning and ventromedial PFC and hippocampus inhibiting amygdala in fear extinction.
Human studies
suggest vmPFC and hippocampus are involved in extinction, but dorsal anterior cingulate and insula activate in conditioning and extinction
