Behavioral pattern separation and its link to the neural mechanisms of fear generalization.

ABSTRACT: Fear generalization is a prominent feature of anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is defined as enhanced fear responding to a stimulus that bears similarities, but is not identical to a threatening stimulus. Pattern separation, a hippocampal-dependent process, is critical for stimulus discrimination; it transforms similar experiences or events into non-overlapping representations. This study is the first in humans to investigate the extent to which fear generalization relies on behavioral pattern separation abilities. Participants (N = 46) completed a behavioral task taxing pattern separation, and a neuroimaging fear conditioning and generalization paradigm. Results show an association between lower behavioral pattern separation performance and increased general

SUBMITTER: Lange I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5714173 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature