In:
Psychological Science, SAGE Publications, Vol. 30, No. 8 ( 2019-08), p. 1123-1135
Abstract:
During a threatening encounter, people can learn to associate the aversive event with a discrete preceding cue or with the context in which the event took place, corresponding to cue-dependent and context-dependent fear conditioning, respectively. Which of these forms of fear learning prevails has critical implications for fear-related psychopathology. We tested here whether acute stress may modulate the balance of cue-dependent and contextual fear learning. Participants ( N = 72) underwent a stress or control manipulation 30 min before they completed a fear-learning task in a virtual environment that allowed both cued and contextual fear learning. Results showed equally strong cue- and context-dependent fear conditioning in the control group. Stress, however, abolished contextual fear learning, which was directly correlated with the activity of the stress hormone cortisol, and made cue-dependent fear more resistant to extinction. These results are the first to show that stress favors cue-dependent over contextual fear learning.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0956-7976
,
1467-9280
DOI:
10.1177/0956797619852027
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2019
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2022256-7
SSG:
5,2
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