The power of belief? Evidence of reduced fear extinction learning in Catholic God believers.

Religious beliefs can shape how people process fear. Yet the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain poorly understood. We investigated fear learning and extinction processes in a group of individuals who professed a belief in God, compared to non-believers.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over the Supplementary Motor Area in Tourette Syndrome.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the supplementary motor area (SMA) has shown promise in Tourette syndrome (TS), but previous studies were limited in size and stimulation duration.

Objective: The aim was to explore the efficacy and safety of multiple sessions of cathodal tDCS over the bilateral SMA on tic severity in TS.

Methods: A double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial 1 mA cathodal tDCS over bilateral SMA was performed in participants with TS older than 16 years.

Non-invasive brain stimulation in research and therapy.

Since the introduction of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) almost four decades ago, non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques have emerged as promising tools to study brain-behaviour relationships in healthy and impaired states with unprecedented precision. Various NIBS techniques, including TMS, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and emerging methods such as transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) are employed in both research and clinical settings. TMS has gained regulatory approval for treating conditions like major depressive disorder and migraine, while tDCS is showing efficacy in enhancing cognitive functions in various populations.

PanicRoom: a virtual reality-based Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm.

Introduction: Pavlovian fear conditioning is an experimental paradigm used to study the acquisition and extinction of fear responses and the various aspects of fear and anxiety. We developed a virtual reality (VR) version of this paradigm to leverage the benefits of virtual reality, such as ecological validity, standardization, safety, and therapeutic applications. Our objective was to create an open-source and immersive environment for studying fear-related responses using Unity Engine 3D and the Oculus Rift device.

Functional role of area 8A in the posterior dorsolateral frontal region of the human brain: A single case study.

Area 8A has traditionally been considered to be the frontal eye field (FEF), i.e. the area for the motor production of eye movements.