Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry (생물정신의학)

The Korean Society of Biological Psychiatry (대한생물정신의학회)
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A Review of Brain Imaging Studies on Classical Fear Conditioning and Extinction in Healthy Adults

건강한 성인에서의 고전적 공포 조건화 및 소거에 연관된 뇌 영역에 대한 뇌영상 연구 고찰

  • 강일향 (이화여자대학교 뇌융합과학연구원) ;
  • 서채원 (이화여자대학교 뇌융합과학연구원) ;
  • 윤수정 (이화여자대학교 뇌융합과학연구원) ;
  • 김정윤 (이화여자대학교 뇌융합과학연구원)
  • Received : 2021.06.01
  • Accepted : 2021.07.05
  • Published : 2021.10.31
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Abstract

Fear conditioning and extinction, which are adaptive processes to learn and avoid potential threats, have essential roles in the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. Experimental fear conditioning and extinction have been used to identify the mechanism of fear and anxiety in humans. However, the brain-based mechanisms of fear conditioning and extinction are yet to be established. In the current review, we summarized the results of neuroimaging studies that examined the brain changes-functional activity and structures-regarding fear conditioning or extinction in healthy individuals. The functional activity of the amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate gyrus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus changed dynamically with both fear conditioning and extinction. This review may provide an up-to-date summary that may broaden our understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms of anxiety disorder. In addition, the brain regions that are involved in the fear conditioning and extinction may be considered as potential treatment targets in the future studies.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2020R1A6A1A03043528 and NRF-2019R1I1A1A01045872).

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