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Brain activity associated with omission of an aversive event reveals the effects of fear learning and generalization.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Dunsmoor, JE; LaBar, KS
Published in: Neurobiology of learning and memory
March 2012

During fear learning, anticipation of an impending aversive stimulus increases defensive behaviors. Interestingly, omission of the aversive stimulus often produces another response around the time the event was expected. This omission response suggests that the subject detected a mismatch between what was predicted and what actually occurred, thereby providing an indirect measure of cognitive expectancy. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate whether omission-related brain activity reflects fear expectancy during learning and generalization of conditioned fear. During conditioning, a face expressing a moderate amount of fear (conditioned stimulus, CS+) signaled delivery of an aversive shock unconditioned stimulus (US), whereas the same face with a neutral expression was unreinforced. In a subsequent generalization test, subjects were presented with faces expressing more or less fear intensity than the CS+. Psychophysiological results revealed an increase in the skin conductance response (SCR) during learning when the US was omitted. Omission-related SCRs were also observed during the generalization test following the offset of high- but not low-intensity face expressions. Neuroimaging results revealed omission-related neural activity during learning in the anterior cingulate cortex, parietal cortex, insula, and striatum. These same regions also showed omission-related responses during the generalization test following highly expressive fearful faces. Finally, regression analysis on omission responses during the generalization test revealed correlations in offset-related SCRs and neural activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex. Thus, converging psychophysiological and neural activity upon omission of aversive stimulation provides a novel metric of US expectancy, even to generalized cues that had no prior history of reinforcement.

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Published In

Neurobiology of learning and memory

DOI

EISSN

1095-9564

ISSN

1074-7427

Publication Date

March 2012

Volume

97

Issue

3

Start / End Page

301 / 312

Related Subject Headings

  • Photic Stimulation
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Humans
  • Generalization, Psychological
  • Galvanic Skin Response
  • Female
  • Fear
  • Facial Expression
  • Conditioning, Classical
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Dunsmoor, J. E., & LaBar, K. S. (2012). Brain activity associated with omission of an aversive event reveals the effects of fear learning and generalization. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 97(3), 301–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2012.02.003
Dunsmoor, Joseph E., and Kevin S. LaBar. “Brain activity associated with omission of an aversive event reveals the effects of fear learning and generalization.Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 97, no. 3 (March 2012): 301–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2012.02.003.
Dunsmoor JE, LaBar KS. Brain activity associated with omission of an aversive event reveals the effects of fear learning and generalization. Neurobiology of learning and memory. 2012 Mar;97(3):301–12.
Dunsmoor, Joseph E., and Kevin S. LaBar. “Brain activity associated with omission of an aversive event reveals the effects of fear learning and generalization.Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, vol. 97, no. 3, Mar. 2012, pp. 301–12. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2012.02.003.
Dunsmoor JE, LaBar KS. Brain activity associated with omission of an aversive event reveals the effects of fear learning and generalization. Neurobiology of learning and memory. 2012 Mar;97(3):301–312.
Journal cover image

Published In

Neurobiology of learning and memory

DOI

EISSN

1095-9564

ISSN

1074-7427

Publication Date

March 2012

Volume

97

Issue

3

Start / End Page

301 / 312

Related Subject Headings

  • Photic Stimulation
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Humans
  • Generalization, Psychological
  • Galvanic Skin Response
  • Female
  • Fear
  • Facial Expression
  • Conditioning, Classical