Extinction learning in childhood anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder: implications for treatment

McGuire, Joseph F.; Orr, Scott P.; Essoe, Joey K.-Y.; McCracken, James T.; Storch, Eric A.; Piacentini, John

doi:10.1080/14737175.2016.1199276

Cited by 56 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 94 publications

(159 reference statements)

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“…Altered fear generalization is thus a transdiagnostic factor contributing to many forms of psychopathology. While most studies have been conducted in adults, increasing evidence documents alterations in fear learning in youth with anxiety (Craske, Waters, et al, 2008;Lau, et al, 2008;Waters, Henry, & Neumann, 2009), PTSD (Gamwell, et al, 2015;McGuire, et al, 2016), and externalizing problems (Fairchild, van Goozen, Stollery, & Goodyer, 2008;.…”

Section: Learning and Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms linking childhood adversity with psychopathology: Learning as an intervention target

McLaughlin

DeCross

Jovanović

et al. 2019

Behaviour Research and Therapy

113

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Exposure to childhood adversity is common and a powerful risk factor for many forms of psychopathology. In this opinion piece, we argue for greater translation of knowledge about the developmental processes that are influenced by childhood adversity into targeted interventions to prevent the onset of psychopathology. Existing evidence has consistently identified several neurodevelopmental pathways that serve as mechanisms linking adversity with psychopathology. We highlight three domains in which these mechanisms are well-established and point to clear targets for intervention: 1) threat-related social information processing biases; 2) heightened emotional reactivity and difficulties with emotion regulation; and 3) disruptions in reward processing. In contrast to these established pathways, knowledge of how childhood adversity influences emotional learning mechanisms, including fear and reward learning, is remarkably limited. We see the investigation of these mechanisms as a critical next step for the field that will not only advance understanding of developmental pathways linking childhood adversity with psychopathology, but also provide clear targets for behavioral interventions. Knowledge of the mechanisms linking childhood adversity with psychopathology has advanced rapidly, and the time has come to translate that knowledge into clinical interventions to prevent the onset of mental health problems in children who have experienced adversity.

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Section: Learning and Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms linking childhood adversity with psychopathology: Learning as an intervention target

McLaughlin

DeCross

Jovanović

et al. 2019

Behaviour Research and Therapy

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Fear extinction has been characterized as an active form of inhibitory learning that allows for the adaptive regulation of conditioned fear responses (Myers and Davis, 2002). The inability to consolidate extinction memory and inhibit conditioned fear under safe conditions underlies some of the hallmark symptoms of anxiety and stress-related disorders (McGuire et al, 2016;Milad et al, 2009;Waters and Pine, 2016). It is now recognized that cognition, attention, mood, and anxiety disorders have a nutritional component or are promoted by poor dietary habits.…”

Section: Short-term Wd Consumption Attenuates Fear Extinction Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early maturational emergence of adult-like emotional reactivity and anxiety after brief exposure to an obesogenic diet

Vega-Torres

Azadian

Rios-Orsini

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Emerging evidence demonstrates that diet-induced obesity disrupts corticolimbic circuits underlying emotional regulation. Studies directed at understanding how obesity alters brain and behavior are easily confounded by a myriad of complications related to obesity. This study investigated the early neurobiological stress response triggered by an obesogenic diet. Furthermore, this study directly determined the combined impact of a short-term obesogenic diet and adolescence on critical behavioral and molecular substrates implicated in emotion regulation and stress.Methods: Adolescent (postnatal day 31) or adult (postnatal day 81) Lewis rats were fed for one week with an experimental Western-like high-saturated fat diet (WD, 41% kcal from fat) or a matched control diet (CD, 13% kcal from fat). We used the acoustic fear-potentiated startle (FPS) paradigm to determine the effects of the WD on cued fear conditioning and fear extinction. We used c-Fos mapping to determine the functional influence of the diet and stress on corticolimbic circuits. Results:We report that one-week WD consumption was sufficient to induce fear extinction deficits in adolescent rats, but not in adult rats. We identify fear-induced alterations in corticolimbic neuronal activation and demonstrate increased prefrontal cortex CRHR1 mRNA levels in the rats that consumed the WD. Conclusions:Our findings demonstrate that short-term consumption of an obesogenic diet during adolescence heightens behavioral and molecular vulnerabilities associated with risk for anxiety and stress-related disorders. Given that fear extinction promotes resilience, and that fear extinction principles are the Vega-Torres et. al., 3 foundation of psychological treatments for PTSD, understanding how obesogenic environments interact with the adolescent period to affect the acquisition and expression of fear extinction memories is of tremendous clinical relevance. KEYWORDS PTSD, diet-induced obesity, adolescence, anxiety, fear-potentiated startle, CRHR1 HIGHLIGHTS • Short-term WD consumption during adolescence impairs cued fear extinction memory retention in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm.• Short-term WD consumption during adolescence attenuates neuronal activation to electric footshock stress in the basomedial nuclei of the amygdala.• Short-term WD consumption increases CRHR1 mRNA levels in the medial prefrontal cortex.• Adult LEW rats exhibit increased basal HPA axis tone and heightened emotional reactivity to footshock stress relative to adolescent rats.

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“…Fear extinction has been characterized as an active form of inhibitory learning that allows for the adaptive regulation of conditioned fear responses (Myers and M. Davis, 2002). The inability to consolidate extinction memory and inhibit conditioned fear under safe conditions underlies some of the hallmark symptoms of anxiety and stress-related disorders (McGuire et al, 2016;Milad et al, 2009;Waters and Pine, 2016). It is now increasingly recognized that cognition, attention, mood, and anxiety disorders have a nutritional component or are promoted by poor dietary habits.…”

Section: Short-term Wd Consumption Attenuates Fear Extinction Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental regulation of fear memories by an obesogenic high-saturated fat/high-sugar diet

Vega-Torres

Reyes-Rivera

Figueroa

2019

Preprint

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Background: Anxiety and stress-related disorders are strongly linked with obesity and the consumption of obesogenic diets. Paralleling clinical findings, we showed that the consumption of an obesogenic diet during adolescence disrupts the structural integrity of amygdalar and prefrontal cortex circuits underlying emotional responses to stress. These abnormalities were associated with a PTSD-like phenotype, including heightened stress reactivity to predator odor trauma, anxietylike behaviors, and profound learning deficits. The present follow-up study investigates how an obesogenic diet alters aversion-related associative memories across adolescence. Methods: Adolescent Lewis rats were fed for eight weeks with an experimentalWestern-like high-saturated fat/high-sugar diet (WD, 41% kcal from fat) or a matched control diet (CD, 13% kcal from fat). Acoustic fear-potentiated startle (FPS) responses were assessed longitudinally at weeks 1, 4, and 8 after commencing the diets to determine the effects of the WD on cued fear conditioning, fear extinction learning, and fear extinction retention. Results:We found that the rats that consumed the WD exhibited substantial attenuation of fear extinction and fear extinction retention when remote memory was tested. One-week WD consumption was sufficient to induce impairments in fear extinction learning. This phenotype was associated with reduced dopamine receptor 1 mRNA levels in the prefrontal cortex. Interestingly, our reconditioning paradigm revealed that early-acquired fear memories were resistant to the disruptive effects of chronic WD consumption on cued fear learning. Vega-Torres et. al., 3Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that consumption of an obesogenic WD during adolescence heightens behavioral vulnerabilities associated with risk for anxiety and stress-related disorders. Given that fear extinction promotes resilience and that fear extinction principles are the foundation of psychological treatments for PTSD, understanding how obesity and obesogenic diets affect the acquisition and expression of fear extinction memories is of tremendous clinical relevance. HIGHLIGHTS• Acute WD consumption impairs cued fear extinction learning in a fearpotentiated startle paradigm.• WD consumption attenuates fear extinction memory retention • WD consumption during adolescence increases acoustic startle responsivity over time • Chronic WD consumption decreases dopamine receptor D1 mRNA levels in the prefrontal cortex.

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Extinction learning in childhood anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder: implications for treatment

Cited by 56 publications

References 94 publications

Mechanisms linking childhood adversity with psychopathology: Learning as an intervention target

Mechanisms linking childhood adversity with psychopathology: Learning as an intervention target

Early maturational emergence of adult-like emotional reactivity and anxiety after brief exposure to an obesogenic diet

Developmental regulation of fear memories by an obesogenic high-saturated fat/high-sugar diet

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