TY  - THES
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
T1  - Emotional reactions after event learning : a Rift between Implicit and Explicit Conditioned Valence in Humans Pain Relief Lerning
T1  - Emotionale Reaktionen nach dem Event-Learning
N2  - Organismen vermeiden Gefahren und streben nach Belohnungen, um zu überleben. Klassische Konditionierung ist ein einfaches Model, das erklärt, wie Tiere und Menschen Ereignisse in Verbindung bringen. Dieses Lernen ermöglicht Lebewesen Gefahr oder Belohnung direkt vorherzusehen. Normalerweise besteht das Konditionierungsparadigma aus der Präsentation eines neutralen Stimulus zusammen mit einem biologisch bedeutsamen Event (der unkonditionierte Stimulus – US). Aufgrund dieser Assoziation erwirbt der neutrale Stimulus affektive Eigenschaften und wird dann konditionierter Stimulus (CS+) genannt. Wenn der CS+ mit Schmerz während der Trainingsphase assoziiert wird, leitet er eine defensive Reaktion, wie z.B. Vermeidung ein. Wenn der CS+ mit einer Belohnung assoziiert wird, leitet er eine appetitive Reaktion, wie z.B. Annäherungsreaktionen ein. Interessanterweise haben Tierstudien gezeigt, dass ein konditionierter Stimulus vermieden wurde, wenn er einem aversiven US in der Trainingsphase vorausgegangen war (CS+US; Vorwärtskonditionierung). Das deutet darauf hin, dass der CS+ aversive Eigenschaften erlangt hat. Jedoch führte ein konditionierter Stimulus zu einer Annäherung, wenn er in der Trainingsphase auf einen aversiven US folgt (US CS+; Rückwärtskonditionierung). Das deutet darauf hin, dass der CS+ appetitive Eigenschaften erlangt hat. Kann das Event Timing sowohl aversive als auch appetitive konditionierten Reaktionen auch bei Menschen auslösen, die zu Kognitionen bezüglich der Assoziationen fähig sind? Um diese Fragestellung zu beantworten, wurden vier Studien durchgeführt. Die Studien hatten den gleichen Ablauf, variiert wurde nur die Zeit zwischen CS+ und US (das Interstimulusintervall – ISI – ist als das Zeitintervall zwischen dem Onset des CS+ und dem Onset des US definiert). Während der Akquisitionsphase (Konditionierung) wurden, zwei einfache geometrische Figuren als konditionierte Stimuli dargeboten. Eine geometrische Figur (der CS+) war immer mit einem leichten schmerzhaften elektrischen Reiz (der aversive US) assoziiert; die andere Figur (der CS-) war nie mit dem elektrischen Reiz assoziiert. In einem between-subjects Design wurde entweder eine Vorwärtskonditionierung oder eine Rückwärtskonditionierung durchgeführt. Während der Testsphase (Extinktion) wurden CS+ und CS- präsentiert sowie zusätzlich eine neue neutrale geometrische Figur präsentiert, die als Kontrollstimulus fungierte; der US wurde in dieser Phase nie dargeboten. Vor und nach der Konditionierung wurden die Probanden sowohl bezüglich der Valenz (bzw. Unangenehmheit und Angenehmheit) als auch der Erregung (bzw. Ruhe und Aufregung) hinsichtlich der geometrischen Figuren befragt. In der ersten Studie wurde der Schreckreflex (Startle Reflex) als Maß für die implizite Valenz der Stimuli gemessen. Der Schreckreflex ist eine defensive Urreaktion, die aus einem Muskelzucken des Gesichts und des Körpers besteht. Dieser Reflex ist durch plötzliche und intensive visuelle, taktile oder akustische Reize evoziert. Einerseits war die Amplitude des Startles bei der Anwesenheit des vorwärts CS+ potenziert und das deutet daraufhin, dass der CS+ eine implizite negative Valenz nach der Vorwärtskonditionierung erworben hat. Anderseits war die Amplitude des Startles bei der Anwesenheit des rückwärts CS+ abgeschwächt, was darauf hin deutet, dass der CS+ nach der Rückwärtskonditionierung eine implizite positive Valenz erworben hat. In der zweiten Studie wurde die oxygenierte Bloodsresponse (BOLD) mit funktioneller Magnetresonanztomographie (fMRI) erhoben, um neuronale Korrelate des Event-Timings zu erfassen. Eine stärkere Aktivierung wurde in der Amygdala in Erwiderung auf den vorwärts CS+ und im Striatum in Erwiderung auf den rückwärts CS+ gefunden. Zum Einen entspricht dies einer Aktivierung des Defensive Motivational Systems, da die Amygdala eine wichtige Rolle beim Angstexpression und Angstakquisition hat. Deshalb wurde der vorwärts CS+ als aversiv betrachtet. Zum Anderen entspricht dies einer Aktivierung des Appetitive Motivational System, da das Striatum eine wichtige Rolle bei Belohnung hat. Deshalb wurde der rückwärts CS+ als appetitiv betrachtet. In der dritten Studie wurden Aufmerksamkeitsprozesse beim Event-Timing näher beleuchtet, indem steady-state visuelle evozierte Potentiale (ssVEP) gemessen wurden. Sowohl der vorwärts CS+ als auch der rückwärts CS+ zog Aufmerksamkeit auf sich. Dennoch war die Amplitude der ssVEP großer während der letzen Sekunden des vorwärts CS+, d.h. direkt vor dem aversiven US. Die Amplitude der ssVEP war aber größer während der ersten Sekunden des rückwärts CS+, d.h. kurz nach dem aversiven US. Vermutlich wird die Aufmerksamkeit auf den hinsichtlich des aversiven US informativsten Teil des CS+. Alle Probanden der drei Studien haben den vorwärts CS+ und den rückwärts CS+ negativer und erregender als den Kontrollstimulus beurteilt. Daher werden die expliziten Ratings vom Event-Timing nicht beeinflusst. Bemerkenswert ist die Dissoziation zwischen den subjektiven Ratings und den physiologischen Reaktionen. Nach der Dual-Prozess Theorie werden die Verhaltensreaktionen des Menschen von zwei Systemen determiniert: einem impulsiv impliziten System, das auf assoziativen Prinzipien beruht, und einem reflektiv expliziten System, das auf der Kenntnis über Fakten und Werte basiert. Wichtig ist, dass die zwei Systeme auf synergetische oder antagonistische Weise agieren können. Folglich könnte es sein, dass das impulsive und das reflektive System nach der Rückwärtskonditionierung antagonistisch arbeiten. Zusammen deuten die vorliegenden Studien daraufhin, dass Event-Timing eine Bestrafung in eine Belohnung umwandeln kann, aber die Probanden erleben den Stimulus assoziiert mit einem aversiven Event als negativ. Diese Dissoziation könnte zum Verständnis der psychiatrischen Störungen wie z.B. Angststörungen oder Drogenabhängigkeit beitragen.
N2  - In order to survive, organisms avoid threats and seek rewards. Classical conditioning is a simple model to explain how animals and humans learn associations between events that allow them to predict threats and rewards efficiently. In the classical conditioning paradigm, a neutral stimulus is paired with a biologically significant event (the unconditioned stimulus – US). In virtue of this association, the neutral stimulus acquires affective motivational properties, and becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS+). Defensive responses emerge for pairings with an aversive US (e.g., pain), and appetitive responses emerge for pairing with an appetitive event (e.g., reward). It has been observed that animals avoid a CS+ when it precedes an aversive US during a training phase (CS+  US; forward conditioning); whereas they approach a CS+ when it follows an aversive US during the training phase (US  CS+; backward conditioning). These findings indicate that the CS+ acquires aversive properties after a forward conditioning, whereas acquires appetitive properties after a backward conditioning. It is thus of interest whether event timing also modulates conditioned responses in such an opponent fashion in humans, who are capable of explicit cognition about the associations. For this purpose, four experiments were conducted in which a discriminative conditioning was applied in groups of participants that only differed in the temporal sequence between CS+ onset and US onset (i.e., the interstimulus interval – ISI). During the acquisition phase (conditioning), two simple geometrical shapes were presented as conditioned stimuli. One shape (CS+) was always associated with a mild painful electric shock (i.e., the aversive US) and the other one (CS-) was never associated with the shock. In a between-subjects design, participants underwent either forward or backward conditioning. During the test phase (extinction), emotional responses to CS+ and CS- were tested and the US was never presented. Additionally, a novel neutral shape (NEW) was presented as control stimulus. To assess cognitive components, participants had to rate both the valence (the degree of unpleasantness or pleasantness) and the arousal (the degree of calmness or excitation) associated with the shapes before and after conditioning. In the first study, startle responses, an ancestral defensive reflex consisting of a fast twitch of facial and body muscles evoked by sudden and intense stimuli, was measured as an index of stimulus implicit valence. Startle amplitude was potentiated in the presence of the forward CS+ whilst attenuated in the presence of the backward CS+. Respectively, the former response indicates an implicit negative valence of the CS+ and an activation of the defensive system; the latter indicated an implicit positive valence of the CS+ and an activation of the appetitive system. In the second study, the blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response was measured by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neural responses after event learning. Stronger amygdala activation in response to forward CS+ and stronger striatum activation in response to backward CS+ were found in comparison to CS-. These results support the notion that the defensive motivational system is activated after forward conditioning since the amygdala plays a crucial role in fear acquisition and expression. Whilst the appetitive motivational system is activated after backward conditioning since the striatum plays a crucial role in reward processing. In the third study, attentional processes underlying event learning were observed by means of steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs). This study showed that both forward and backward CS+ caught attentional resources. More specifically, ssVEP amplitude was higher during the last seconds of forward CS+ that is just before the US, but during the first seconds of backward CS+ that is just after the US. Supposedly, attentional processes were located at the most informative part of CS+ in respect to the US. Participants of all three studies rated both forward and backward CS+ more negative and arousing compared to the CS-. This indicated that event timing did not influence verbal reports similarly as the neural and behavioral responses indicating a dissociation between the explicit and implicit responses. Accordingly, dual process theories propose that human behavior is determined by the output of two systems: (1) an impulsive implicit system that works on associative principles, and (2) a reflective explicit system that functions on the basis of knowledge about facts and values. Most importantly, these two systems can operate in a synergic or antagonistic fashion. Hence, the three studies of this thesis congruently suggest that the impulsive and the reflective systems act after backward association in an antagonistic fashion. In sum, event timing may turn punishment into reward in humans even though they subjectively rate the stimulus associated with aversive events as being aversive. This dissociation might contribute to understand psychiatric disorders, like anxiety disorders or drug addiction.
KW  - Gefühl
KW  - Lernen
KW  - Konditionierung
KW  - Emotionen
KW  - Event Timing
KW  - Conditioning
KW  - Emotion
KW  - Event Timing
Y1  - 2010
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-55715
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Mühlberger, Andreas
A1  - Glotzbach-Schoon, Evelyn
A1  - Pauli, Paul
T1  - Pain predictability reverses valence ratings of a relief-associated stimulus
JF  - Front in Systems Neuroscience
N2  - Relief from pain is positively valenced and entails reward-like properties. Notably, stimuli that became associated with pain relief elicit reward-like implicit responses too, but are explicitly evaluated by humans as aversive. Since the unpredictability of pain makes pain more aversive, this study examined the hypotheses that the predictability of pain also modulates the valence of relief-associated stimuli. In two studies, we presented one conditioned stimulus \((_{FORWARD}CS+)\) before a painful unconditioned stimulus (US), another stimulus \((_{BACKWARD}CS+)\) after the painful US, and a third stimulus (CS−) was never associated with the US. In Study 1, \(_{FORWARD}CS+\) predicted half of the USs while the other half was delivered unwarned and followed by \(_{BACKWARD}CS+\). In Study 2, all USs were predicted by \(_{FORWARD}CS+\) and followed by \(_{BACKWARD}CS+\). In Study 1 both \(_{FORWARD}CS+\) and \(_{BACKWARD}CS+\) were rated as negatively valenced and high arousing after conditioning, while \(_{BACKWARD}CS+\) in Study 2 acquired positive valence and low arousal. Startle amplitude was significantly attenuated to \(_{BACKWARD}CS+\) compared to \(_{FORWARD}CS+\) in Study 2, but did not differ among CSs in Study 1. In summary, predictability of aversive events reverses the explicit valence of a relief-associated stimulus.
KW  - threat unpredictability
KW  - implicit and explicit responses
KW  - forward conditioning
KW  - backward conditioning
KW  - pain relief
Y1  - 2013
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-129275
VL  - 7
IS  - 53
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Pauli, Paul
T1  - Appetitive vs. aversive conditioning in humans
JF  - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
N2  - In classical conditioning, an initially neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus, CS) becomes associated with a biologically salient event (unconditioned stimulus, US), which might be pain (aversive conditioning) or food (appetitive conditioning). After a few associations, the CS is able to initiate either defensive or consummatory responses, respectively. Contrary to aversive conditioning, appetitive conditioning is rarely investigated in humans, although its importance for normal and pathological behaviors (e.g., obesity, addiction) is undeniable. The present study intents to translate animal findings on appetitive conditioning to humans using food as an US. Thirty-three participants were investigated between 8 and 10 am without breakfast in order to assure that they felt hungry. During two acquisition phases, one geometrical shape (avCS+) predicted an aversive US (painful electric shock), another shape (appCS+) predicted an appetitive US (chocolate or salty pretzel according to the participants' preference), and a third shape (CS) predicted neither US. In a extinction phase, these three shapes plus a novel shape (NEW) were presented again without US delivery. Valence and arousal ratings as well as startle and skin conductance (SCR) responses were collected as learning indices. We found successful aversive and appetitive conditioning. On the one hand, the avCS+ was rated as more negative and more arousing than the CS and induced startle potentiation and enhanced SCR. On the other hand, the appCS+ was rated more positive than the CS and induced startle attenuation and larger SCR. In summary, we successfully confirmed animal findings in (hungry) humans by demonstrating appetitive learning and normal aversive learning.
KW  - extinction
KW  - attention
KW  - classical conditioning
KW  - skin conductance response
KW  - punishment
KW  - startle reflex
KW  - reward
KW  - fear
KW  - startle
KW  - model
Y1  - 2015
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-148614
VL  - 9
IS  - 128
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ewald, Heike
A1  - Glotzbach-Schoon, Evelyn
A1  - Gerdes, Antje B. M.
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Müller, Mathias
A1  - Mühlberger, Andreas
A1  - Pauli, Paul
T1  - Delay and trace fear conditioning in a complex virtual learning environment - neural substrates of extinction
JF  - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
N2  - Extinction is an important mechanism to inhibit initially acquired fear responses. There is growing evidence that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) inhibits the amygdala and therefore plays an important role in the extinction of delay fear conditioning. To our knowledge, there is no evidence on the role of the prefrontal cortex in the extinction of trace conditioning up to now. Thus, we compared brain structures involved in the extinction of human delay and trace fear conditioning in a between-subjects-design in an fMRI study. Participants were passively guided through a virtual environment during learning and extinction of conditioned fear. Two different lights served as conditioned stimuli (CS); as unconditioned stimulus (US) a mildly painful electric stimulus was delivered. In the delay conditioning group (DCG) the US was administered with offset of one light (CS+), whereas in the trace conditioning group (TCG) the US was presented 4s after CS+ offset. Both groups showed insular and striatal activation during early extinction, but differed in their prefrontal activation. The vmPFC was mainly activated in the DCG, whereas the TCG showed activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during extinction. These results point to different extinction processes in delay and trace conditioning. VmPFC activation during extinction of delay conditioning might reflect the inhibition of the fear response. In contrast, dlPFC activation during extinction of trace conditioning may reflect modulation of working memory processes which are involved in bridging the trace interval and hold information in short term memory.
KW  - prefrontal cortex
KW  - delay conditioning
KW  - trace conditioning
KW  - extinction
KW  - virtual reality
KW  - fMRI
KW  - medial prefrontal cortex
KW  - event-related FMRI
KW  - orbifrontal cortex
KW  - contextual fear
Y1  - 2014
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-116230
SN  - 1662-5161
VL  - 8
IS  - 323
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Farmer, Adam D.
A1  - Strzelczyk, Adam
A1  - Finisguerra, Alessandra
A1  - Gourine, Alexander V.
A1  - Gharabaghi, Alireza
A1  - Hasan, Alkomiet
A1  - Burger, Andreas M.
A1  - Jaramillo, Andrés M.
A1  - Mertens, Ann
A1  - Majid, Arshad
A1  - Verkuil, Bart
A1  - Badran, Bashar W.
A1  - Ventura-Bort, Carlos
A1  - Gaul, Charly
A1  - Beste, Christian
A1  - Warren, Christopher M.
A1  - Quintana, Daniel S.
A1  - Hämmerer, Dorothea
A1  - Freri, Elena
A1  - Frangos, Eleni
A1  - Tobaldini, Eleonora
A1  - Kaniusas, Eugenijus
A1  - Rosenow, Felix
A1  - Capone, Fioravante
A1  - Panetsos, Fivos
A1  - Ackland, Gareth L.
A1  - Kaithwas, Gaurav
A1  - O'Leary, Georgia H.
A1  - Genheimer, Hannah
A1  - Jacobs, Heidi I. L.
A1  - Van Diest, Ilse
A1  - Schoenen, Jean
A1  - Redgrave, Jessica
A1  - Fang, Jiliang
A1  - Deuchars, Jim
A1  - Széles, Jozsef C.
A1  - Thayer, Julian F.
A1  - More, Kaushik
A1  - Vonck, Kristl
A1  - Steenbergen, Laura
A1  - Vianna, Lauro C.
A1  - McTeague, Lisa M.
A1  - Ludwig, Mareike
A1  - Veldhuizen, Maria G.
A1  - De Couck, Marijke
A1  - Casazza, Marina
A1  - Keute, Marius
A1  - Bikson, Marom
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - D'Agostini, Martina
A1  - Weymar, Mathias
A1  - Betts, Matthew
A1  - Prigge, Matthias
A1  - Kaess, Michael
A1  - Roden, Michael
A1  - Thai, Michelle
A1  - Schuster, Nathaniel M.
A1  - Montano, Nicola
A1  - Hansen, Niels
A1  - Kroemer, Nils B.
A1  - Rong, Peijing
A1  - Fischer, Rico
A1  - Howland, Robert H.
A1  - Sclocco, Roberta
A1  - Sellaro, Roberta
A1  - Garcia, Ronald G.
A1  - Bauer, Sebastian
A1  - Gancheva, Sofiya
A1  - Stavrakis, Stavros
A1  - Kampusch, Stefan
A1  - Deuchars, Susan A.
A1  - Wehner, Sven
A1  - Laborde, Sylvain
A1  - Usichenko, Taras
A1  - Polak, Thomas
A1  - Zaehle, Tino
A1  - Borges, Uirassu
A1  - Teckentrup, Vanessa
A1  - Jandackova, Vera K.
A1  - Napadow, Vitaly
A1  - Koenig, Julian
T1  - International Consensus Based Review and Recommendations for Minimum Reporting Standards in Research on Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (Version 2020)
JF  - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
N2  - Given its non-invasive nature, there is increasing interest in the use of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) across basic, translational and clinical research. Contemporaneously, tVNS can be achieved by stimulating either the auricular branch or the cervical bundle of the vagus nerve, referred to as transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation(VNS) and transcutaneous cervical VNS, respectively. In order to advance the field in a systematic manner, studies using these technologies need to adequately report sufficient methodological detail to enable comparison of results between studies, replication of studies, as well as enhancing study participant safety. We systematically reviewed the existing tVNS literature to evaluate current reporting practices. Based on this review, and consensus among participating authors, we propose a set of minimal reporting items to guide future tVNS studies. The suggested items address specific technical aspects of the device and stimulation parameters. We also cover general recommendations including inclusion and exclusion criteria for participants, outcome parameters and the detailed reporting of side effects. Furthermore, we review strategies used to identify the optimal stimulation parameters for a given research setting and summarize ongoing developments in animal research with potential implications for the application of tVNS in humans. Finally, we discuss the potential of tVNS in future research as well as the associated challenges across several disciplines in research and clinical practice.
KW  - transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
KW  - minimum reporting standards
KW  - guidelines & recommendations
KW  - transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation
KW  - transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234346
SN  - 1662-5161
VL  - 14
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Genheimer, Hannah
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Asan, Esther
A1  - Pauli, Paul
T1  - Reinstatement of contextual conditioned anxiety in virtual reality and the effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in humans
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Since exposure therapy for anxiety disorders incorporates extinction of contextual anxiety, relapses may be due to reinstatement processes. Animal research demonstrated more stable extinction memory and less anxiety relapse due to vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). We report a valid human three-day context conditioning, extinction and return of anxiety protocol, which we used to examine effects of transcutaneous VNS (tVNS). Seventy-five healthy participants received electric stimuli (unconditioned stimuli, US) during acquisition (Day1) when guided through one virtual office (anxiety context, CTX+) but never in another (safety context, CTX−). During extinction (Day2), participants received tVNS, sham, or no stimulation and revisited both contexts without US delivery. On Day3, participants received three USs for reinstatement followed by a test phase. Successful acquisition, i.e. startle potentiation, lower valence, higher arousal, anxiety and contingency ratings in CTX+ versus CTX−, the disappearance of these effects during extinction, and successful reinstatement indicate validity of this paradigm. Interestingly, we found generalized reinstatement in startle responses and differential reinstatement in valence ratings. Altogether, our protocol serves as valid conditioning paradigm. Reinstatement effects indicate different anxiety networks underlying physiological versus verbal responses. However, tVNS did neither affect extinction nor reinstatement, which asks for validation and improvement of the stimulation protocol.
KW  - psychology
KW  - vagus nerve stimulation
KW  - contextual anxiety
KW  - fear conditioning
KW  - extinction
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-169892
VL  - 7
IS  - 17886
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Guhn, Anne
A1  - Dresler, Thomas
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Müller, Laura D.
A1  - Hahn, Tim
A1  - Tupak, Sara V.
A1  - Polak, Thomas
A1  - Deckert, Jürgen
A1  - Herrmann, Martin J.
T1  - Medial prefrontal  cortex stimulation modulates the processing of conditioned fear
N2  - The extinction of conditioned fear depends on an efficient interplay between the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In rats, high-frequency electrical mPFC stimulation has been shown to improve extinction by means of a reduction of amygdala activity. However, so far it is unclear whether stimulation of homologues regions in humans might have similar beneficial effects. Healthy volunteers received one session of either active or sham repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) covering the mPFC while undergoing a 2-day fear conditioning and extinction paradigm. Repetitive TMS was applied offline after fear acquisition in which one of two faces (CS+ but not CS−) was associated with an aversive scream (UCS). Immediate extinction learning (day 1) and extinction recall (day 2) were conducted without UCS delivery. Conditioned responses (CR) were assessed in a multimodal approach using fear-potentiated startle (FPS), skin conductance responses (SCR), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and self-report scales. Consistent with the hypothesis of a modulated processing of conditioned fear after high-frequency rTMS, the active group showed a reduced CS+/CS− discrimination during extinction learning as evident in FPS as well as in SCR and arousal ratings. FPS responses to CS+ further showed a linear decrement throughout both extinction sessions. This study describes the first experimental approach of influencing conditioned fear by using rTMS and can thus be a basis for future studies investigating a complementation of mPFC stimulation to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
KW  - fear conditioning
KW  - memory consolidation and extinction
KW  - learning
KW  - transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
KW  - medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)
Y1  - 2014
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111309
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hein, Grit
A1  - Gamer, Matthias
A1  - Gall, Dominik
A1  - Gründahl, Marthe
A1  - Domschke, Katharina
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Wieser, Matthias J.
A1  - Pauli, Paul
T1  - Social cognitive factors outweigh negative emotionality in predicting COVID-19 related safety behaviors
JF  - Preventive Medicine Reports
N2  - Emotion-motivation models propose that behaviors, including health behaviors, should be predicted by the same variables that also predict negative affect since emotional reactions should induce a motivation to avoid threatening situations. In contrast, social cognitive models propose that safety behaviors are predicted by a different set of variables that mainly reflect cognitive and socio-structural aspects. Here, we directly tested these opposing hypotheses in young adults (N = 4134) in the context of COVID-19-related safety behaviors to prevent infections. In each participant, we collected measures of negative affect as well as cognitive and socio-structural variables during the lockdown in the first infection wave in Germany. We found a negative effect of the pandemic on emotional responses. However, this was not the main predictor for young adults’ willingness to comply with COVID-19-related safety measures. Instead, individual differences in compliance were mainly predicted by cognitive and socio-structural variables. These results were confirmed in an independent data set. This study shows that individuals scoring high on negative affect during the pandemic are not necessarily more likely to comply with safety regulations. Instead, political measures should focus on cognitive interventions and the societal relevance of the health issue. These findings provide important insights into the basis of health-related concerns and feelings as well as behavioral adaptations.
KW  - social cognitive
KW  - negative affect
KW  - safety behavior
KW  - survey
KW  - COVID-19
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-265008
VL  - 24
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Herzog, Katharina
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Schneider, Kristina
A1  - Schiele, Miriam A.
A1  - Domschke, Katharina
A1  - Romanos, Marcel
A1  - Deckert, Jürgen
A1  - Pauli, Paul
T1  - Reducing Generalization of Conditioned Fear: Beneficial Impact of Fear Relevance and Feedback in Discrimination Training
JF  - Frontiers in Psychology
N2  - Anxiety patients over-generalize fear, possibly because of an incapacity to discriminate threat and safety signals. Discrimination trainings are promising approaches for reducing such fear over-generalization. Here we investigated the efficacy of a fear-relevant vs. a fear-irrelevant discrimination training on fear generalization and whether the effects are increased with feedback during training. Eighty participants underwent two fear acquisition blocks, during which one face (conditioned stimulus, CS+), but not another face (CS−), was associated with a female scream (unconditioned stimulus, US). During two generalization blocks, both CSs plus four morphs (generalization stimuli, GS1–GS4) were presented. Between these generalization blocks, half of the participants underwent a fear-relevant discrimination training (discrimination between CS+ and the other faces) with or without feedback and the other half a fear-irrelevant discrimination training (discrimination between the width of lines) with or without feedback. US expectancy, arousal, valence ratings, and skin conductance responses (SCR) indicated successful fear acquisition. Importantly, fear-relevant vs. fear-irrelevant discrimination trainings and feedback vs. no feedback reduced generalization as reflected in US expectancy ratings independently from one another. No effects of training condition were found for arousal and valence ratings or SCR. In summary, this is a first indication that fear-relevant discrimination training and feedback can improve the discrimination between threat and safety signals in healthy individuals, at least for learning-related evaluations, but not evaluations of valence or (physiological) arousal.
KW  - fear generalization
KW  - feedback
KW  - discrimination training
KW  - fear-relevant training
KW  - classical conditioning
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239970
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 12
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Neueder, Dorothea
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Pauli, Paul
T1  - Contextual fear conditioning and fear generalization in individuals with panic attacks
JF  - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
N2  - Context conditioning is characterized by unpredictable threat and its generalization may constitute risk factors for panic disorder (PD). Therefore, we examined differences between individuals with panic attacks (PA; N = 21) and healthy controls (HC, N = 22) in contextual learning and context generalization using a virtual reality (VR) paradigm. Successful context conditioning was indicated in both groups by higher arousal, anxiety and contingency ratings, and increased startle responses and skin conductance levels (SCLs) in an anxiety context (CTX+) where an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US) occurred unpredictably vs. a safety context (CTX−). PA compared to HC exhibited increased differential responding to CTX+ vs. CTX− and overgeneralization of contextual anxiety on an evaluative verbal level, but not on a physiological level. We conclude that increased contextual conditioning and contextual generalization may constitute risk factors for PD or agoraphobia contributing to the characteristic avoidance of anxiety contexts and withdrawal to safety contexts and that evaluative cognitive process may play a major role.
KW  - contextual fear conditioning
KW  - anxiety generalization
KW  - startle response
KW  - panic disorder
KW  - virtual reality
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201318
VL  - 13
ER  -