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- Title
Associative learning and extinction of conditioned threat predictors across sensory modalities.
- Authors
Koenen, Laura. R.; Pawlik, Robert. J.; Icenhour, Adriane; Petrakova, Liubov; Forkmann, Katarina; Theysohn, Nina; Engler, Harald; Elsenbruch, Sigrid
- Abstract
The formation and persistence of negative pain-related expectations by classical conditioning remain incompletely understood. We elucidated behavioural and neural correlates involved in the acquisition and extinction of negative expectations towards different threats across sensory modalities. In two complementary functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in healthy humans, differential conditioning paradigms combined interoceptive visceral pain with somatic pain (study 1) and aversive tone (study 2) as exteroceptive threats. Conditioned responses to interoceptive threat predictors were enhanced in both studies, consistently involving the insula and cingulate cortex. Interoceptive threats had a greater impact on extinction efficacy, resulting in disruption of ongoing extinction (study 1), and selective resurgence of interoceptive CS-US associations after complete extinction (study 2). In the face of multiple threats, we preferentially learn, store, and remember interoceptive danger signals. As key mediators of nocebo effects, conditioned responses may be particularly relevant to clinical conditions involving disturbed interoception and chronic visceral pain. In order to further understand mechanisms of pain-related expectations by classical conditioning, Koenen et al. carried out fMRI studies in healthy human participants using paradigms that either combined interoceptive visceral pain with somatic pain, or with aversive tones as exteroceptive threats. They report that under both conditions interoceptive threat predictors were preferentially learned, consistently involved the insula and cingulate cortex, and had a greater impact on the disruption of expectation extinction.
- Subjects
ASSOCIATIVE learning; PAIN management; FUNCTIONAL magnetic resonance imaging; VISCERAL pain; CLINICAL trials
- Publication
Communications Biology, 2021, Vol 4, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2399-3642
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s42003-021-02008-1