Cited by 1,277Memory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Mechanisms of fear extinction

Myers, K M, Davis, M·2007·Molecular Psychiatry

Abstract

Excessive fear and anxiety are hallmarks of a variety of disabling anxiety disorders that affect millions of people throughout the world. Hence, a greater understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in the inhibition of fear and anxiety is attracting increasing interest in the research community. In the laboratory, fear inhibition most often is studied through a procedure in which a previously fear conditioned organism is exposed to a fear-eliciting cue in the absence of any aversive event. This procedure results in a decline in conditioned fear responses that is attributed to a process called fear extinction. Extensive empirical work by behavioral psychologists has revealed basic behavioral characteristics of extinction, and theoretical accounts have emphasized extinction as a form of inhibitory learning as opposed to an erasure of acquired fear. Guided by this work, neuroscientists have begun to dissect the neural mechanisms involved, including the regions in which extinction-related plasticity occurs and the cellular and molecular processes that are engaged. The present paper will cover behavioral, theoretical and neurobiological work, and will conclude with a discussion of clinical implications.

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Crossref · 10.1038/sj.mp.4001939

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  • Exposure therapy is grounded in fear extinction principles.

    “Exposure therapy is based on principles of fear extinction, in which classically conditioned stimuli gradually lose their phobic quality through repeated exposure without the feared negative consequences (Myers & Davis, 2007).”

    From Enhancing Inhibitory Learning: The Utility of Variability in Exposure (2019) · cites this paper as Myers & Davis, 2007

  • The amygdala is a key brain structure in fear conditioning and extinction.

    “which is a key brain structure involved in fear conditioning and extinction (Davis, 1992; Etkin & Wager, 2007; Myers & Davis, 2007; Phillips & Ledoux, 1992)”

    From Enhancing Inhibitory Learning: The Utility of Variability in Exposure (2019) · cites this paper as Myers & Davis, 2007

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Authors
Myers, K. M., & Davis, M.
Affiliations
Emory University (US)
Corresponding author
Myers, K M
Venue
Molecular Psychiatry
Published
2006-12-12
Volume
12
Issue
2
Pages
120-150
ISSN
  • 1359-4184 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-5578
OpenAlex
W2070785687
Cited by
1,277
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 41 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 61 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 70 · 2018: 70 · 2017: 74 · 2016: 72 · 2015: 76 · 2014: 87 · 2013: 91 · 2012: 93
FWCI
3.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Molecular Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (MH59906, MH-57250, R01MH057250, R01MH059906, MH 47840)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
fear extinction, fear conditioning, inhibitory learning, anxiety disorders, synaptic plasticity
MeSH terms
Animals, Anxiety, Conditioning, Psychological, Extinction, Psychological, Fear, Neuronal Plasticity

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