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Neural correlates of aversive conditioning: development of a functional imaging paradigm for the investigation of anxiety disorders

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to establish a short paradigm for the examination of classical aversive conditioning processes for application in patients with anxiety disorders. We measured behavioral, autonomic and neural correlates of the paradigm in healthy subjects, applying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and measurement of skin conductance. Therefore, neutral visual stimuli were paired with an unpleasant white noise as unconditioned stimulus. Twenty healthy subjects performed three experimental phases of learning: familiarization, acquisition and extinction. Subjective ratings of valence and arousal after each phase of conditioning as well as skin conductance measurement indicated successful conditioning. During acquisition, fMRI results showed increased activation for the conditioned stimulus (CS+unpaired) when compared with the non-conditioned stimulus (CS−) in the right amygdala, the insulae, the anterior cingulate cortex and the parahippocampal gyrus, all regions known to be involved in emotional processing. In addition, a linearly decreasing activation in the right amygdala/hippocampus for the CS− across the acquisition phase was found. There were no significant differences between CS+ and CS− during extinction. In conclusion, the applicability of this paradigm for the evaluation of neural correlates in conditioning and extinction processes has been proven. Thus, we present a promising paradigm for the examination of the fear-circuit in patients with anxiety disorders and additionally effects of cognitive-behavioral interventions.

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Notes

  1. In order to avoid influences on conditioning processes, we changed the colour of the stimuli during the skin conductance measurements. Instead of yellow and blue spheres, we used green and violet stimuli.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by a Grant from the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF 01GV0611).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Isabelle Reinhardt, Thilo Kellermann & Nils Kohn

  2. JARA Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany

    Isabelle Reinhardt, Thilo Kellermann & Nils Kohn

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Andreas Jansen

  4. Central Service Facility “Functional Imaging” at the ICCR-Biomat, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    André Schüppen

  5. Virtual Project House Gender and Technology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Nils Kohn

  6. Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Münster, Munster, Germany

    Alexander L. Gerlach

  7. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Tilo Kircher

Authors
  1. Isabelle Reinhardt
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  2. Andreas Jansen
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  3. Thilo Kellermann
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  7. Tilo Kircher
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Correspondence to Isabelle Reinhardt.

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Reinhardt, I., Jansen, A., Kellermann, T. et al. Neural correlates of aversive conditioning: development of a functional imaging paradigm for the investigation of anxiety disorders. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 260, 443–453 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-010-0099-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-010-0099-9

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