Stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex blocks the return of subcortically mediated fear responses.

ABSTRACT: The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) mediates the inhibition of defensive responses upon encounters of cues, that had lost their attribute as a threat signal via previous extinction learning. Here, we investigated whether such fear extinction recall can be facilitated by anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Extinction recall was tested twenty-four hours after previously acquired fear was extinguished. Either anodal tDCS or sham stimulation targeting the vmPFC was applied during this test. After stimulation ceased, we examined return of fear after subjects had been re-exposed to aversive events. Fear was assessed by reports of threat expectancy and modulations of autonomic (skin conductance, heart rate) and protective reflex (startle potentiation) measures, the latte

SUBMITTER: Szeska C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9489865 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature