Fear attenuation collaborations to optimize translation.

Here, we describe the efforts we dedicated to the challenge of modifying entrenched emotionally laden memories. In recent years, through a number of collaborations and using a combination of behavioral, molecular, and computational approaches, we: (a) developed novel approaches to fear attenuation that engage mechanisms that differ from those engaged during extinction (Monfils), (b) examined whether our approaches can generalize to other reinforcers (Lee, Gonzales, Chaudhri, Cofresi, and Monfils), (c) derived principled explanations for the differential outcomes of our approaches (Niv, Gershman, Song, and Monfils), (d) developed better assessment metrics to evaluate outcome success (Shumake and Monfils), (e) identified biomarkers that can explain significant variance in our outcomes of interest (Shumake and Monfils), and (f) developed better basic research assays and translated efforts to the clinic (Smits, Telch, Otto, Shumake, and Monfils). We briefly highlight each of these milestones and conclude with final remarks and extracted principles.

Carbon Dioxide Reactivity Differentially Predicts Fear Expression After Extinction and Retrieval-Extinction in Rats.

Background: Cues present during a traumatic event may result in persistent fear responses. These responses can be attenuated through extinction learning, a core component of exposure therapy. Exposure/extinction is effective for some people, but not all.

Reconsolidation and Fear Extinction: An Update.

Fear memories can be updated behaviorally by delivering extinction trials during the reconsolidation window, which results in a persistent attenuation of fear memories (Monfils et al., Science 324:951-955, 2009). This safe and non-invasive paradigm, termed retrieval-extinction (or post-retrieval extinction), has also been found to be successful at preventing the return of fear in healthy fear conditioned humans (Schiller et al.

Analysis of emotional prosody as a tool for differential diagnosis of cognitive impairments: a pilot research.

Introduction: This pilot research was designed to investigate if prosodic features from running spontaneous speech could differentiate dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT), vascular dementia (VaD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and healthy cognition. The study included acoustic measurements of prosodic features (Study 1) and listeners' perception of emotional prosody differences (Study 2).

Methods: For Study 1, prerecorded speech samples describing the picture from 10 individuals with DAT, 5 with VaD, 9 with MCI, and 10 neurologically healthy controls (NHC) were obtained from the DementiaBank.

Examining the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury on fear extinction in male rats.

There is a strong association between traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and the development of psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Exposure-based therapy is a first-line intervention for individuals who suffer from PTSD and other anxiety-related disorders; however, up to 50% of individuals with PTSD do not respond well to this approach. Fear extinction, a core mechanism underlying exposure-based therapy, is a procedure in which a repeated presentation of a conditioned stimulus in the absence of an unconditioned stimulus leads to a decrease in fear expression, and is a useful tool to better understand exposure-based therapy.