Genetic influences on central and peripheral nervous system activity during fear conditioning.

ABSTRACT: Fear conditioning is an evolutionarily conserved type of learning serving as a model for the acquisition of situationally induced anxiety. Brain function supporting fear conditioning may be genetically influenced, which in part could explain genetic susceptibility for anxiety following stress exposure. Using a classical twin design and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we evaluated genetic influences (h²) on brain activity and standard autonomic measures during fear conditioning. We found an additive genetic influence on mean brain activation (h² = 0.34) and autonomic responses (h² = 0.24) during fear learning. The experiment also allowed estimation of the genetic influence on brain activation during safety learning (h² = 0.55). The mean saf

SUBMITTER: Kastrati G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8904491 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature