Impaired discriminative fear-conditioning resulting from elevated fear responding to learned safety cues among individuals with panic disorder
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Classical fear-conditioning is central to many etiologic accounts of panic disorder (PD), but few lab-based conditioning studies in PD have been conducted. One conditioning perspective proposes associative-learning deficits characterized by deficient safety learning among PD patients. The current study of PD assesses acquisition and retention of discriminative aversive conditioning using a fear-potentiated startle paradigm. This paradigm was chosen for its specific capacity to independently assess safety- and danger learning in the service of characterizing putative anomalies in each type of learning among those with PD. Though no group difference in fear-potentiated startle was found at retention, acquisition results demonstrate impaired discriminative learning among PD patients as indexed by measures of conditioned startle-potentiation to learned safety and danger cues. Importantly, this discrimination deficit was driven by enhanced startle-potentiation to the learned safety cue rather than aberrant reactivity to the danger cue. Consistent with this finding, PD patients relative to healthy individuals reported higher expectancies of dangerous outcomes in the presence of the safety cue, but equal danger expectancies during exposure to the danger cue. Such results link PD to impaired discrimination learning, reflecting elevated fear responding to learned safety cues.
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Clinically, individuals with PTSD have been shown to have alterations in stimulus generalization, fear inhibition, discrimination, and fear extinction.
“Clinically, individuals with PTSD have been show to have alterations in stimulus generalization (16), fear inhibition (29), discrimination, and fear extinction (38).”
From Conditioned fear associated phenotypes as robust, translational indices of trauma-, stressor-, and anxiety-related behaviors (2014) · cites this paper as [16]
Alterations in fear extinction, fear inhibition, and stimulus generalization have all been reported, using fear-potentiated startle methods, in populations with trauma- and stressor-related as well as anxiety disorders.
“Alterations in fear extinction, fear inhibition, and stimulus generalization have all been reported, using fear-potentiated startle methods, in populations with trauma- and stressor-related as well as anxiety disorders [see Figure 1; (16, 29–31)].”
From Conditioned fear associated phenotypes as robust, translational indices of trauma-, stressor-, and anxiety-related behaviors (2014) · cites this paper as [16]
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- Authors
- Lissek, S., Rabin, S. J., McDowell, D. J., Dvir, S., Bradford, D. E., Geraci, M., Pine, D. S., & Grillon, C.
- Affiliations
- United States Department of Health and Human Services (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lissek, Shmuel
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-02
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 111-118
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2758527
- OpenAlex
- W2168546903
- Cited by
- 239
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 9.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Behaviour Research and Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (Z01MH002798)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- panic disorder, fear conditioning, discriminative learning, safety learning, fear-potentiated startle, classical conditioning, safety cues, outcome expectations
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Conditioning, Classical, Cues, Electromyography, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Reflex, Startle, Panic Disorder, Young Adult
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