Alpha-2 Adrenoreceptor Antagonist Yohimbine Potentiates Consolidation of Conditioned Fear.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Hyperconsolidation of aversive associations and poor extinction learning have been hypothesized to be crucial in the acquisition of pathological fear. Previous animal and human research points to the potential role of the catecholaminergic system, particularly noradrenaline and dopamine, in acquiring emotional memories. Here, we investigated in a between-participants design with 3 groups whether the noradrenergic alpha-2 adrenoreceptor antagonist yohimbine and the dopaminergic D2-receptor antagonist sulpiride modulate long-term fear conditioning and extinction in humans.

Methods

Fifty-five healthy male students were recruited. The final sample consisted of n = 51 participants who were explicitly aware of the contingencies between conditioned stimuli (CS) and uncon

SUBMITTER: Sperl MFJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9515133 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature