Psychophysiological modelling and the measurement of fear conditioning

Bach, Dominik R.; Melinščak, Filip

doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103576

Cited by 53 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…One limitation of the current study is that the level of heterogeneity found here may not generalize to other data processing methods, such as model‐fitting techniques such as PsPM where study power is maximized (Bach & Melinscak, 2020). Further, significant work will need to be conducted before standardization of statistical analyses of this paradigm may be achieved; here we have only indicated that systemic issues exist in the current approach.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Similarly, the cause for inadequate robustness between trial‐by‐trial and averaged data should be systematically investigated. It is possible that the failure of these methods to replicate is due to lack of power, in which case methods that seek to improve power via experimental design and SCR scoring are highly desirable (Bach & Melinscak, 2020; Melinscak & Bach, 2020). Specifically, improving SCR scoring can provide better estimates of responses relevant to extinction paradigms by reducing measurement error (Bach & Melinscak, 2020), and optimization of experimental designs based on statistical requirements can make analyses more amenable to experimental data (Melinscak & Bach, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, significant work will need to be conducted before standardization of statistical analyses of this paradigm may be achieved; here we have only indicated that systemic issues exist in the current approach. Modeling approaches will also need to be tailored to suit different paradigm designs to accommodate parameters such as trial length (Bach & Melinscak, 2020). Our paradigm also featured a relatively small number of trials, particularly during acquisition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inconsistent analytic strategies reduce robustness in fear extinction via skin conductance response

et al. 2020

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inconsistent analytic strategies reduce robustness in fear extinction via skin conductance response

et al. 2020

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“…As a possible reason, retrodictive validity simultaneously depends on trueness and precision of a measure, whereas reliability only depends on precision. For two measures with similar retrodictive validity, the more reliable one will have higher precision and lower trueness, compared the less reliable one (Bach et al, 2020). It is thus possible that scanpath length provides higher trueness but lower precision to measure CS-US association, compared to SCR.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In doing so, our primary criterion was retrodictive validity, which jointly assesses the trueness of the measurement (i.e., how close the average over many measurements is to the true score) and its precision (i.e., how much does the measurement vary when true score is constant) (Bach et al, 2020). We also report an approximated split-half reliability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Saccadic scanpath length: an index for human threat conditioning

2020

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Threat-conditioned cues are thought to capture overt attention in a bottom-up process. Quantification of this phenomenon typically relies on cue competition paradigms. Here, we sought to exploit gaze patterns during exclusive presentation of a visual conditioned stimulus, in order to quantify human threat conditioning. To this end, we capitalized on a summary statistic of visual search during CS presentation, scanpath length. During a simple delayed threat conditioning paradigm with full-screen monochrome conditioned stimuli (CS), we observed shorter scanpath length during CS+ compared to CS- presentation. Retrodictive validity, i.e., effect size to distinguish CS+ and CS-, was maximized by considering a 2-s time window before US onset. Taking into account the shape of the scan speed response resulted in similar retrodictive validity. The mechanism underlying shorter scanpath length appeared to be longer fixation duration and more fixation on the screen center during CS+ relative to CS- presentation. These findings were replicated in a second experiment with similar setup, and further confirmed in a third experiment using full-screen patterns as CS. This experiment included an extinction session during which scanpath differences appeared to extinguish. In a fourth experiment with auditory CS and instruction to fixate screen center, no scanpath length differences were observed. In conclusion, our study suggests scanpath length as a visual search summary statistic, which may be used as complementary measure to quantify threat conditioning with retrodictive validity similar to that of skin conductance responses.

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Cannabinoid polymorphisms interact with plasma endocannabinoid levels to predict fear extinction learning

Ney

Matthews

Hsu

et al. 2021

Depression and Anxiety

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Background The endocannabinoid system is gaining increasing attention as a favorable target for improving posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatments. Exposure therapy is the gold‐standard treatment for PTSD, and fear extinction learning is a key concept underlying successful exposure. Methods This study examined the role of genetic endocannabinoid polymorphisms in a fear extinction paradigm with PTSD compared to healthy participants (N = 220). Participants provided saliva for genotyping, completed a fear conditioning and extinction task, with blood samples taken before and after the task (n = 57). Skin conductance was the outcome and was analyzed using mixed models. Results Results for cannabinoid receptor type 1 polymorphisms suggested that minor alleles of rs2180619 and rs1049353 were associated with poorer extinction learning in PTSD participants. The minor allele of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) polymorphism rs324420 was associated with worse extinction in PTSD participants. Subanalysis of healthy participants (n = 57) showed the FAAH rs324420 genotype effect was dependent on plasma arachidonoyl ethanolamide (AEA) level, but not oleoylethanolamide or 2‐arachidonoyl glycerol. Specifically, higher but not lower AEA levels in conjunction with the minor allele of FAAH rs324420 were associated with better extinction learning. Conclusions These findings provide translational evidence that cannabinoid receptor 1 and AEA are involved in extinction learning in humans. FAAH rs324420's effect on fear extinction is moderated by AEA plasma level in healthy controls. These findings imply that FAAH inhibitors may be effective for targeting anxiety in PTSD, but this effect needs to be explored further in clinical populations.

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Psychophysiological modelling and the measurement of fear conditioning

Cited by 53 publications

References 62 publications

Inconsistent analytic strategies reduce robustness in fear extinction via skin conductance response

Inconsistent analytic strategies reduce robustness in fear extinction via skin conductance response

Saccadic scanpath length: an index for human threat conditioning

Cannabinoid polymorphisms interact with plasma endocannabinoid levels to predict fear extinction learning

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