Subject:
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130 000 Cognitive Neurology & Memory 230 Affective Neuroscience All institutes and research themes of the Radboud University Medical Center Experimental Psychopathology and Treatment Radboudumc 13: Stress-related disorders DCMN: Donders Center for Medical Neuroscience Tijdelijke code tbv inlezen publicaties Radboudumc - Alleen voor gebruik door Radboudumc |
Organization:
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Cognitive Neuroscience PI Group Memory and Emotion SW OZ BSI KLP PI Group Affective Neuroscience |
Journal title:
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The Journal of Neuroscience
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Abstract:
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Improving extinction learning is essential to optimize psychotherapy for persistent fear-related disorders. In two independent studies (both n=24), we found that goal-directed eye movements activate a dorsal fronto-parietal network and transiently deactivate the amygdala ([graphic1]=.17). Connectivity analyses revealed that this down-regulation potentially engages a ventromedial prefrontal pathway known to be involved in cognitive regulation of emotion. Critically, when eye movements followed memory reactivation during extinction learning, it reduced spontaneous fear recovery 24 hours later ([graphic2]=.21). Stronger amygdala deactivation furthermore predicted a stronger reduction in subsequent fear recovery after reinstatement (r=.39). In conclusion, we show that extinction learning can be improved with a non-invasive eye-movement intervention that triggers a transient suppression of the amygdala. Our finding that another task which taxes working memory leads to a similar amygdala suppression furthermore indicates that this effect is likely not specific to eye movements, which is in line with a large body of behavioral studies. This study contributes to the understanding of a widely used treatment for traumatic symptoms by providing a parsimonious account for how working memory tasks and goal-directed eye movements can enhance extinction-based psychotherapy, namely through neural circuits (e.g., amygdala deactivation) similar to those that support cognitive control of emotion.
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