Article
Behavioral Sciences
Yu Chen, Xiao Lin, Sizhi Ai, Yan Sun, Le Shi, Shiqiu Meng, Lin Lu, Jie Shi
Summary: The study suggests that novelty-facilitated extinction has a superior effect in preventing fear generalization, providing new perspectives for enhancing the effect of exposure therapy.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Ho Namkung, Kerrie L. Thomas, Jeremy Hall, Akira Sawa
Summary: Studies on fear learning and extinction have greatly advanced our understanding of the neurobiology involved. Animal studies offer causal insights for human brain regions and their functional connectivity, while human studies provide macroscopic insights into animal neural circuits. However, there is room for improvement in translating basic and clinical research on fear learning and extinction.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
David Watson, Lee Anna Clark, Leonard J. Simms, Roman Kotov
Summary: In this study, fear and anxiety are examined in the context of personality and psychopathology models, along with their assessment. Anxiety is a sustained, future-oriented response to potential threat, while fear is a brief, present-focused response to acute threat. Assessing individual differences in fear can be done through phobic responses to specific stimuli or through differentiating between harm avoidance and risk taking. These measures are correlated with various personality traits and factors within psychopathology models.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
David Watson, Lee Anna Clark, Leonard J. Simms, Roman Kotov
Summary: This article explores the relationships between fear and anxiety within structural models of personality and psychopathology, as well as important issues related to their assessment. Anxiety represents a core facet within the domain of neuroticism, while fear is a response to acute threat. Different assessment methods reflect individual differences in fear and anxiety.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Cheng Chen, Zhengxinyue Wang, Xinyu Cao, Jianjun Zhu
Summary: Experiencing family material hardship is associated with changes in fronto-limbic circuit connectivity, which can lead to specific psychological symptoms such as depression and aggression. The study found that family material hardship was linked to increased positive connectivity between the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, as well as increased negative connectivity between the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings highlight the importance of targeted interventions to mitigate the impact of material hardship on psychological well-being.
Article
Neurosciences
Jennyfer M. Payet, Laura Stevens, Adrian M. Russo, Emily J. Jaehne, Maarten van den Buuse, Stephen Kent, Christopher A. Lowry, Michael V. Baratta, Matthew W. Hale
Summary: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the first-line pharmacological treatment for various anxiety, trauma, and stressor-related disorders. Research shows that SSRIs can alter aspects of learning and memory processes, and specific populations of DR serotonergic neurons play a significant role in regulating fear and anxiety-related behaviors.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Rami El Matine, Judith C. Kreutzmann, Markus Fendt
Summary: By manipulating neural excitability in the amygdala, the specificity of fear learning can be improved, reducing fear generalization and anxiety. The findings suggest that moderate increases in amygdala excitability can be beneficial for fear learning specificity and may have applications for therapeutic interventions.
PROGRESS IN NEURO-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Daniela Schiller
Summary: This commentary describes the evolution, branches, major challenges, and future endeavors in the field of reconsolidation.
BRAIN RESEARCH BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Belinda P. P. Lay, Ramisha Choudhury, Guillem R. Esber, Mihaela D. Iordanova
Summary: Previous associative learning experience did not mitigate the deficit in overexpectation caused by lateral orbitofrontal cortex inactivation. This finding emphasizes the importance of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex in this particular form of fear reduction and broadens our understanding of its modulation of behavioral inhibition.
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Anuradha Batabyal, Ken Lukowiak
Summary: Ecosystems face a serious threat from novel exotic predators that invade and put native prey populations at risk. Prey animals can learn and form a memory of these new predators during a critical developmental period. However, this learned predator recognition is not inherited by offspring.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Austin M. Adkins, Laurie L. Wellman, Larry D. Sanford
Summary: Stress can induce neuroinflammation and disrupt sleep, and fear memories can resurface and reproduce symptoms. The controllability of stress can alter neuroinflammatory signaling and its association with sleep following fear memory recall.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Jalina Graham, Alexa F. D'Ambra, Se Jung Jung, Yusuke Teratani-Ota, Nina Vishwakarma, Rasika Venkatesh, Abhijna Parigi, Evan G. Antzoulatos, Diasynou Fioravante, Brian J. Wiltgen
Summary: The hippocampus can be divided into distinct segments with unique contributions to learning and memory; while the dorsal segment supports cognitive processes like spatial learning and navigation, the ventral regulates emotional behaviors related to fear, anxiety, and reward. CA1 neurons in both segments appear to make similar contributions to context fear conditioning, despite some differences in response patterns.
FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Neurosciences
Marieke R. Gilmartin, Nicole C. Ferrara
Summary: PACAP, a highly conserved neuropeptide, regulates neuronal physiology and transcription, plays a role in stress regulation, affective processing, neuroprotection, and cognition. Elevated PACAP levels and genetic disruption of PAC1 receptor signaling have been linked to maladaptive threat learning and pathological stress and fear in PTSD. Further research is needed to elucidate PACAP's contribution to adaptive and maladaptive fear learning.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biology
Jeremy M. Trott, Ann N. Hoffman, Irina Zhuravka, Michael S. Fanselow
Summary: Fear conditioning is a commonly used laboratory procedure to model learning, memory, and anxiety disorders. Recent findings show that under certain conditions, running, jumping, or darting can replace freezing as the dominant conditioned response. These findings raise important methodological and theoretical questions regarding the measurement and expression of fear in rodents. The study also reveals that different behaviors may be indicative of transitions between different defensive responses and emotional states.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Oliver Stiedl, Eugenia Kuteeva, Tomas Hokfelt, Sven Ove Ogren
Summary: The interaction between galanin and the 5-HT1A receptor plays a crucial role in regulating serotonergic neurotransmission, particularly in the acquisition and consolidation of emotional memory. This interaction involves a wide serotonergic network important for integrating emotional and cognitive behaviors.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Jin Li, Bing Liu, Tobias Banaschewski, Arun L. W. Bokde, Erin Burke Quinlan, Sylvane Desrivieres, Herta Flor, Vincent Frouin, Hugh Garavan, Penny Gowland, Andreas Heinz, Bernd Ittermann, Jean-Luc Martinot, Eric Artiges, Frauke Nees, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Tomas Paus, Luise Poustka, Sarah Hohmann, Juliane H. Froehner, Michael N. Smolka, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Gunter Schumann, Tianzi Jiang
Summary: This study provides evidence for the involvement of a specific brain region, the orbitofrontal cortex, in the relationship between genetic risk for smoking and tobacco use. The cortical volume within this region partially mediates the association between genetic risk and the number of occasions of tobacco use.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Boris William Boettinger, Sarah Baumeister, Sabina Millenet, Gareth J. Barker, Arun L. W. Bokde, Christian Buechel, Erin Burke Quinlan, Sylvane Desrivieres, Herta Flor, Antoine Grigis, Hugh Garavan, Penny Gowland, Andreas Heinz, Bernd Ittermann, Jean-Luc Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillere Martinot, Eric Artiges, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Tomas Paus, Luise Poustka, Juliane H. Froehner, Michael N. Smolka, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Gunter Schumann, Tobias Banaschewski, Daniel Brandeis, Frauke Nees
Summary: The study found that brain responses during negative affective face processing in healthy adolescents are influenced by the CP dimension. Specifically, there was a linear increase in left orbitofrontal cortex activity with increasing CP up to the clinical range in the full sample, while a significant inverted U-shaped effect was observed in individuals with high CP.
EUROPEAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Francesca Biondo, Charlotte Nymberg Thunell, Bing Xu, Congying Chu, Tianye Jia, Alex Ing, Erin Burke Quinlan, Nicole Tay, Tobias Banaschewski, Arun L. W. Bokde, Christian Buechel, Sylvane Desrivieres, Herta Flor, Vincent Frouin, Hugh Garavan, Penny Gowland, Andreas Heinz, Bernd Ittermann, Jean-Luc Martinot, Herve Lemaitre, Frauke Nees, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Luise Poustka, Sabina Millenet, Juliane H. Froehner, Michael N. Smolka, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Edward D. Barker, Gunter Schumann
Summary: This study revealed sex differences in the neural correlates of hyperactivity/inattention symptoms in adolescents, with boys showing lower grey matter volume in specific brain regions and girls showing higher grey matter volume in certain regions. These findings underscore the importance of considering sex when examining mechanisms underlying psychopathology in adolescence.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Yara J. Toenders, Akhil Kottaram, Richard Dinga, Christopher G. Davey, Tobias Banaschewski, Arun L. W. Bokde, Erin Burke Quinlan, Sylvane Desrivieres, Herta Flor, Antoine Grigis, Hugh Garavan, Penny Gowland, Andreas Heinz, Rudiger Bruehl, Jean-Luc Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillere Martinot, Frauke Nees, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Herve Lemaitre, Tomas Paus, Luise Poustka, Sarah Hohmann, Juliane H. Froehner, Michael N. Smolka, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Argyris Stringaris, Betteke van Noort, Jani Penttila, Yvonne Grimmer, Corinna Insensee, Andreas Becker, Gunter Schumann, Lianne Schmaal
Summary: Using various factors and machine learning, this study predicts the onset of depression in adolescents.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY-COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING
(2022)
Article
Anesthesiology
Xaver Fuchs, Martin Diers, Joerg Trojan, Pinar Kirsch, Christopher Milde, Robin Bekrater-Bodmann, Mariela Rance, Jens Foell, Jamila Andoh, Susanne Becker, Herta Flor
Summary: The mechanisms underlying chronic phantom limb pain (PLP) are complicated and not fully understood. This study found that PLP intensity is associated with lower heat pain thresholds, especially in the face, which may be related to central nervous system changes in PLP.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PAIN
(2022)
Article
Anesthesiology
Frauke Nees, Beate Ditzen, Herta Flor
Summary: The study found that the processing of pain in patients with chronic pain is influenced by spouse responses, with the impact being related to whether the spouse is solicitous or nonsolicitous. When a spouse provides care and reinforcement for the pain behaviors and expressions of the patient, the processing of pain in the frontal region of the brain is significantly enhanced.
Article
Anesthesiology
Andreas Goebel, David Andersson, Chris Barker, Neil Basu, Craig Bullock, Stuart Bevan, Rachael J. M. Bashford-Rogers, Ernest Choy, David Clauw, Debra Dulake, Richard Dulake, Herta Flor, Marcia Glanvill, Zsuzsanna Helyes, Sarosh Irani, Eva Kosek, Jennifer Laird, Gary MacFarlane, Hayley McCullough, Andrew Marshall, Robert Moots, Serge Perrot, Nick Shenker, Emanuele Sher, Claudia Sommer, Camilla Svensson, Amanda Williams, Geoff Wood, Emma R. Dorris
Summary: Through expert group consultation and consensus survey, high priority and medium level priority recommendations for fibromyalgia research were identified. These recommendations cover different aspects to be considered in future research, including study design, therapeutic interventions, etc. The ultimate goal is to expedite the application of research findings to clinical practice, benefiting patients with fibromyalgia.
Review
Clinical Neurology
Hunter R. Schone, Chris Baker, Joel Katz, Lone Nikolajsen, Katleho Limakatso, Herta Flor, Tamar R. Makin
Summary: Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a common experience for individuals who have undergone limb amputation, but its characteristics vary greatly. The lack of reliable data has made it challenging to understand the mechanisms of PLP and find effective treatments. However, recent research provides an opportunity to re-examine our assumptions about PLP and its treatments. This review aims to generate consensus on the best ways to study and treat PLP, addressing conceptual and methodological challenges and offering potential solutions. The hope is that a critical evaluation of foundational knowledge will lead to more informed decisions in testing interventions and guide the development of new PLP treatments.
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY NEUROSURGERY AND PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Anna M. Zamorano, Boris Kleber, Federico Arguissain, Shellie Boudreau, Peter Vuust, Herta Flor, Thomas Graven -Nielsen
Summary: Repetitive movements are a major risk factor for musculoskeletal pain and can lead to brain plasticity changes. This study aimed to investigate the brain processing of prolonged muscle pain in musicians. The results showed that musicians had lower pain intensity compared to non-musicians, and higher training volume was associated with lower pain scores.
Article
Anesthesiology
Ana Maria Gonzalez-Roldan, Smadar Bustan, Sandra Kamping, Herta Flor, Fernand Anton
Summary: This study investigated whether experimentally induced pain-related suffering leads individuals to focus more on themselves and less on the external world. The results showed that experiencing prolonged and intense painful stimuli leads to attentional shifts towards oneself and reduced focus on others. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the social dynamics of pain and suffering.
Article
Neurosciences
Nathalie E. Holz, Mariam Zabihi, Seyed Mostafa Kia, Maximillian Monninger, Pascal-M. Aggensteiner, Sebastian Siehl, Dorothea L. Floris, Arun L. W. Bokde, Sylvane Desrivieres, Herta Flor, Antoine Grigis, Hugh H. Garavan, Penny N. Gowland, Andreas Heinz, Ruediger Bruehl, Jean-Luc Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillere Martinot, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Tomas Paus, Luise K. Poustka, Juliane H. Froehner, Michael N. Smolka, Nilakshi Vaidya, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Gunter H. Schumann, Andreas N. Meyer-Lindenberg, Daniel Brandeis, Jan K. Buitelaar, Frauke F. Nees, Christian Beckmann, IMAGEN Consortium, Tobias Banaschewski, Andre F. Marquand
Summary: In a longitudinal study, Holz et al. found that adversity leads to widespread structural brain changes. These changes were replicated in different cohorts and predicted anxiety in individuals. The study highlights the importance of considering individual-level factors in understanding the impact of adversity on brain structure and mental health.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Anesthesiology
Herta Flor, Koichi Noguchi, Rolf-Detlef Treede, Dennis C. Turk
Summary: The decades since the inauguration of the International Association for the Study of Pain have witnessed significant progress in pain research, including advancements in scientific concepts, new technologies, and approaches, which have positively influenced pain management and education.
Article
Psychiatry
Livia Cosentino, Stephanie H. Witt, Helene Dukal, Francesca Zidda, Sebastian Siehl, Herta Flor, Bianca De Filippis
Summary: Traumatic events can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is more prevalent in women. Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) increase the risk of PTSD in adulthood. Epigenetic mechanisms, specifically a mutation in the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) in mice, contribute to susceptibility to PTSD-like alterations, with sex-dependent biological signatures. This study investigated whether the elevated risk of PTSD associated with ACE exposure is accompanied by decreased levels of MECP2 in the blood of humans, and if sex plays a role. Results revealed that among trauma-exposed women, downregulation of MECP2 was associated with increased PTSD symptoms linked to ACE exposure. The findings suggest that MECP2 expression may play a role in the pathophysiology of post-traumatic stress, warranting further research on its potential sex-dependent role in the onset and progression of PTSD.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Mathematical
Stella Guldner, Nadine Lavan, Clare Lally, Lisa Wittmann, Frauke Nees, Herta Flor, Carolyn McGettigan
Summary: The voice is a variable and dynamic social tool with functional relevance for self-presentation. Intentional voice modulations can effectively evoke trait impressions in listeners, which can be recognized and influence social interactions.
PSYCHONOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW
(2023)
Review
Biology
Deepti Mittal, Rebecca Mease, Thomas Kuner, Herta Flor, Rohini Kuner, Jamila Andoh
Summary: The importance of effective research data management (RDM) strategies grows with advancements in data acquisition techniques and research methods, especially in neuroscience. However, large-scale neuroscience research consortia face challenges in implementing a coherent RDM plan due to the diverse research strategies and requirements they encompass. This article presents a concrete RDM strategy implemented for the Heidelberg Collaborative Research Consortium, focusing on sustainable solutions that incentivize incremental RDM while respecting research-specific requirements.