Alterations in fear extinction neural circuitry and fear-related behavior linked to trauma exposure in children

Parent-Child Autonomic Synchrony During Vicarious Extinction Learning in Pediatric PTSD

“…Previous studies have shown that SCR synchrony was associated with greater threat learning and that increased SCR synchrony during fear acquisition was related to fear conditioned responses in parent-child dyads (Marin et al, 2020;Pärnamets et al, 2020). Adult PTSD studies have found increased SCRs during recall suggesting a lack of fear extinction, however youth with PTSD has found mixed results indicating that much is still unknown about how youth with psychopathology learn and extinguish fear (Garfinkel et al, 2014;Marusak et al, 2020;McLaughlin et al, 2016;Milad et al, 2009). For example, McLaughlin and colleagues found blunted SCRs to the CS+ and poor differentiation of CS types during the conditioning and extinction in maltreated youth, while Marusak and colleagues found no differences in SCRs between TD and maltreated youth but did see behavioral differences of fear learning.…”

“…Adult PTSD studies found increased SCRs during recall suggesting a lack of fear extinction. However, studies of youth with trauma observed mixed results indicating that much is still unknown about how youth with psychopathology learn and extinguish fear (Garfinkel et al, 2014; Marusak et al, 2020; McLaughlin et al, 2016; Milad et al, 2009). For example, McLaughlin and colleagues found blunted SCRs to the CS+ and poor differentiation of CS types during conditioning and extinction in maltreated youth, while Marusak and colleagues found no differences in SCRs between TD and maltreated youth but did see behavioral differences of fear learning.…”

“…However, studies of youth with trauma observed mixed results indicating that much is still unknown about how youth with psychopathology learn and extinguish fear (Garfinkel et al, 2014;Marusak et al, 2020;McLaughlin et al, 2016;Milad et al, 2009).…”

“…During acquisition of fear, one study found that children that were more sensitive to anxiety and had lower father-child relationship security had increased reactivity to fear conditioning compared to children that did not, demonstrating that psychopathology and relationship quality may both influence vicarious fear learning (Bilodeau-Houle et al, 2020). While fear learning may be enhanced in youth that have anxiety or trauma related disorders, healthy fear extinction or extinction recall may be disrupted, which has also been seen in adults (Marusak et al, 2020;Pitman et al, 2012). Therefore, it is important to study extinction and recall of fear, in addition to acquisition, to fully understand the impact of psychopathology of vicarious fear learning in youth.…”

“…During fear acquisition, one study found that anxious children had increased reactivity to fear acquisition, demonstrating that psychopathology may influence vicarious fear learning (Bilodeau-Houle et al, 2020). While fear learning may be enhanced in youth with trauma, fear extinction or extinction recall may also be disrupted (Marusak et al, 2020). Therefore, it is important to study fear extinction and recall, in addition to acquisition, to fully understand the impact of vicarious fear learning on psychopathology in youth.…”