Intranasal oxytocin decreases fear generalization in males, but does not modulate discrimination threshold
- PDF / 1,113,542 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 33 Downloads / 199 Views
ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
Intranasal oxytocin decreases fear generalization in males, but does not modulate discrimination threshold Haoran Dou 1,2,3 & Liye Zou 4 & Benjamin Becker 5 & Yi Lei 1,2 Received: 18 May 2020 / Accepted: 13 November 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Background A previously acquired fear response often spreads to perceptually or conceptually close stimuli or contexts. This process, known as fear generalization, facilitates the avoidance of danger, and dysregulations in this process play an important role in anxiety disorders. Oxytocin (OT) has been shown to modulate fear learning, yet effects on fear generalization remain unknown. Methods We employed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, between-subject design during which healthy male participants received either intranasal OT or placebo (PLC) following fear acquisition and before fear generalization with concomitant acquisition of skin conductance responses (SCRs). Twenty-four to 72 h before the fear learning and immediately after the fear generalization task, participants additionally complete a discrimination threshold task. Results Relative to PLC, OT significantly reduced perceived risk and SCRs towards the CS+ and GS1 (the generalization stimulus that is most similar to CS+) during fear generalization, whereas the discrimination threshold was not affected. Conclusions Together, the results suggest that OT can attenuate fear generalization in the absence of effects on discrimination threshold. This study provides the first evidence for effects of OT on fear generalization in humans and suggests that OT may have therapeutic potential in anxiety disorders characterized by dysregulated fear generalization. Keywords Oxytocin . Fear generalization . Discrimination threshold . Skin conductance responses (SCRs)
Introduction Fear generalization refers to the expression of a fear response to a neutral stimulus (light, tone, or smell) that is similar to a previously conditioned fear-associated stimulus. High perceptual similarity between the fear-associated stimulus and the
* Yi Lei [email protected] 1
Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610101, China
2
College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China
3
Active Mind Laboratory, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
4
Exercise and Mental Health Laboratory, College of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China
5
Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
neutral event promotes the generalization of fear (Pavlov 1927; Desiderato and Wassarman 1967; Dunsmoor and Paz 2015). The generalization of fear represents an adaptive mechanism that promotes survival by facilitating defensive responses towards a potential danger. Maladaptive dysregulations in this mechanism have been increa
Data Loading...
