Unconscious psychological treatments for physiological survival circuits

Taschereau-Dumouchel, Vincent; Liu, Ka-Yuet; Lau, Hui-Chong

doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.04.010

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 83 publications

(81 reference statements)

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“…A higher-order perspective is in line with previous results 12, [26][27][28][29] and ours, but models of emotions are still being debated 30 . For instance, one may argue against this hierarchical or higher-order view based on experimental demonstrations that the electrical stimulation of the amygdala itself can trigger a subjective experience of fear and anxiety 31 .…”

Section: Figure 3 Whole-brain Decoders Of Subjective Fear and Skin Csupporting

confidence: 91%

Multivoxel Pattern Analysis Reveals Dissociations Between Subjective Fear and Its Physiological Correlates

Taschereau-Dumouchel

Kawato

Lau

2019

Preprint

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I n studies of anxiety and other affective disorders, objectively measured physiological responses have commonly been used as a proxy for measuring subjective experiences associated with pathology. However, this commonly adopted 'biosignal' approach has recently been called into question on the grounds that subjective experiences and objective physiological responses may dissociate. We performed machine-learning based analysis on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to assess this issue in the case of fear. Participants were presented with pictures of commonly feared animals in an fMRI experiment. Multivoxel brain activity decoders were trained to predict participants' subjective fear ratings and their skin conductance reactivity, respectively. While subjective fear and objective physiological responses were correlated in general, the respective whole-brain multivoxel decoders for the two measures were not identical. Some key brain regions such as the amygdala and insula appear to be primarily involved in the prediction of physiological reactivity, while some regions previously associated with metacognition and conscious perception, including some areas in the prefrontal cortex, appear to be primarily predictive of the subjective experience of fear. The present findings are in support of the recent call for caution in assuming a one-to-one mapping between subjective sufferings and their putative biosignals, despite the clear advantages in the latter's being objectively and continuously measurable in physiological terms.

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Section: Figure 3 Whole-brain Decoders Of Subjective Fear and Skin Csupporting

confidence: 91%

Multivoxel Pattern Analysis Reveals Dissociations Between Subjective Fear and Its Physiological Correlates

Taschereau-Dumouchel

Kawato

Lau

2019

Preprint

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“…As a result, some authors have called for caution in the direct association of implicit brain processes with subjective emotional states. This position is still controversial and is at the center of much recent debates and discussion (Fanselow & Pennington, 2017LeDoux & Brown, 2017;LeDoux & Pine, 2016;Pine & LeDoux, 2017;Taschereau-Dumouchel, Liu, et al, 2018) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another unanswered question regarding the potential therapeutic applications of neural reinforcement pertains to its capacity to change the subjective experience of fear. While physiological reactivity is undoubtedly an important mechanism of anxiety disorders (Etkin & Wager, 2007) , there is also evidence suggesting that physiological reactivity might dissociate from the subjective fear reports (LeDoux & Brown, 2017;LeDoux & Pine, 2016;Taschereau-Dumouchel, Liu, et al, 2018) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multivoxel Neural Reinforcement Changes Resting-State Functional Connectivity Within the Threat Regulation Network

Taschereau-Dumouchel

Chiba²,

Koizumi

et al. 2020

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Using neural reinforcement, participants can be trained to pair a reward with the activation of specific multivoxel patterns in their brains. In a double-blind placebo-controlled experiment, we previously showed that this intervention can decrease the physiological reactivity associated with naturally feared animals. However, the mechanisms behind the effect remain incompletely understood and its usefulness for treatment remains unclear. If the intervention fundamentally changed the brain responses, we might expect to observe relatively stable changes in the functional connectivity within the threat regulation network. To evaluate this possibility, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions while subjects were at rest, before and after neural reinforcement, and quantified the changes in resting-state functional connectivity accordingly. Our results indicate that neural reinforcement increased the connectivity of prefrontal regulatory regions with the amygdala and the ventral temporal cortex (where the visual representations of phobic targets are). Surprisingly, we found no evidence of Hebbian-like learning during neural reinforcement, contrary to what one may expect based on previous neurofeedback studies. These results suggest that multivoxel neural reinforcement, also known as decoded neurofeedback (DecNef), may operate via unique mechanisms, distinct from those involved in conventional neurofeedback.

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“…For instance, modulating neural activity in the medial PFC during or immediately after extinction has been shown to enhance extinction retention [44,45] and improve exposure outcomes among individuals with PTSD [46]. Another promising method of neuromodulation is a technique called decoded neural reinforcement, which involves rewarding unconscious neural representations of feared stimuli as a way of counter-conditioning fear [47]. Early studies have shown such an approach can decrease fear responses to laboratory conditioned fears [48] as well as pre-existing fears of specific animals (e.g., snakes, cockroaches) [49].…”

Section: Successes Of the Extinction Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Extinction Learning to Anxiety Treatment: Mind the Gap

2019

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Laboratory models of extinction learning in animals and humans have the potential to illuminate methods for improving clinical treatment of fear-based clinical disorders. However, such translational research often neglects important differences between threat responses in animals and fear learning in humans, particularly as it relates to the treatment of clinical disorders. Specifically, the conscious experience of fear and anxiety, along with the capacity to deliberately engage top-down cognitive processes to modulate that experience, involves distinct brain circuitry and is measured and manipulated using different methods than typically used in laboratory research. This paper will identify how translational research that investigates methods of enhancing extinction learning can more effectively model such elements of human fear learning, and how doing so will enhance the relevance of this research to the treatment of fear-based psychological disorders.

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Unconscious psychological treatments for physiological survival circuits

Cited by 25 publications

References 83 publications

Multivoxel Pattern Analysis Reveals Dissociations Between Subjective Fear and Its Physiological Correlates

Multivoxel Pattern Analysis Reveals Dissociations Between Subjective Fear and Its Physiological Correlates

Multivoxel Neural Reinforcement Changes Resting-State Functional Connectivity Within the Threat Regulation Network

From Extinction Learning to Anxiety Treatment: Mind the Gap

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