The role of trait anxiety in associative learning during and after an aversive event

Ilse, Arne; Prameswari, Virginia; Kahl, Evelyn; Fendt, Markus

doi:10.1101/lm.048595.118

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…As pointed out above, NPSR −/− mice express more trait anxiety and, interestingly, the increase of anxiety after fear conditioning in NPSR‐deficient mice is driven by the female mice . However, at least in male rats, increased trait anxiety is negatively correlated with safety learning . The present data suggests that stress pre‐exposure or higher trait anxiety (as shown in NPSR‐deficient mice) increases the stress reactivity of an individual, which may follow an inverted U‐shape association with safety learning.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Reason for the observed sex difference could be that females often show higher trait anxiety than males [34][35][36][37] and that trait anxiety is negatively correlated with the "opponent" emotion safety. 38 Taken together, our first two experiments demonstrated that safety learning seems to be a very robust type of learning that cannot be impaired by pre-exposure to stress, at least with the protocol used here. Pre-exposure to immobilization stress did not affect behavior in the acclimation phase as well as safety learning per se.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

“…39 However, at least in male rats, increased trait anxiety is negatively correlated with safety learning. 38 The present data suggests that stress pre-exposure or higher trait anxiety (as shown in NPSR-deficient mice) increases the stress reactivity of an individual, which may follow an inverted U-shape association with safety learning. While having either higher trait anxiety or preexposure to a mild stressor separately may exert an "optimal" level of reactivity that promotes safety learning, a combination of both, higher trait anxiety paired with pre-exposure to stress, would not have beneficial effects on safety learning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…This, in turn, may facilitate safety learning, an observation that could not be found in female mice. Reason for the observed sex difference could be that females often show higher trait anxiety than males and that trait anxiety is negatively correlated with the “opponent” emotion safety …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neuropeptide‐S‐receptor deficiency affects sex‐specific modulation of safety learning by pre‐exposure to electric stimuli

Kreutzmann

Khalil

Köhler

et al. 2020

Genes Brain and Behavior

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Neuropeptide S (NPS) is a neuropeptide involved in the regulation of fear. Because safety learning is impaired in patients suffering from anxiety‐related psychiatric disorders, and polymorphisms of the human neuropeptide S receptor (NPSR) gene have also been associated with anxiety disorders, we wanted to investigate whether NPSR‐deficiency interferes with safety learning, and how prior stress would affect this type of learning. We first investigated the effect of pre‐exposure to two different types of stressors (electric stimuli or immobilization) on safety learning in female and male C57Bl/6 mice, and found that while stress induced by electric stimuli enhanced safety learning in males, there were no differences in safety learning following immobilization stress. To further investigate the role of the NPS system in stress‐induced modulation of safety learning, we exposed NPSR‐deficient mice to stress induced by electric stimuli 10 days before safety learning. In nonstressed male mice, NPSR‐deficiency enhanced safety learning. As in male C57Bl/6 mice, pre‐exposure to electric stimuli increased safety learning in male NPSR +/+ mice. This pre‐exposure effect was blocked in NPSR‐deficient male mice showing impaired, but still intact, safety learning in comparison to their NPSR +/+ and NPSR +/− littermates. There was neither a pre‐exposure nor a genotype effect in female mice. Our findings provide evidence that pre‐exposure to stress induced by electric stimuli enhances safety learning in male mice, and that NPSR‐deficiency prevents the beneficial effect of stress exposure on safety learning. We propose an inverted U‐shape relationship between stress and safety learning.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Neuropeptide‐S‐receptor deficiency affects sex‐specific modulation of safety learning by pre‐exposure to electric stimuli

Kreutzmann

Khalil

Köhler

et al. 2020

Genes Brain and Behavior

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“…Some of these changes are not only seen in clinical populations but also in human subjects with high but not yet pathological trait anxiety [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Of note, also rats with high trait anxiety showed exaggerated fear learning, a less specific fear memory, and impaired fear extinction [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observational Fear Learning in Rats: Role of Trait Anxiety and Ultrasonic Vocalization

2021

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Rats can acquire fear by observing conspecifics that express fear in the presence of conditioned fear stimuli. This process is called observational fear learning and is based on the social transmission of the demonstrator rat’s emotion and the induction of an empathy-like or anxiety state in the observer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of trait anxiety and ultrasonic vocalization in observational fear learning. Two experiments with male Wistar rats were performed. In the first experiment, trait anxiety was assessed in a light–dark box test before the rats were submitted to the observational fear learning procedure. In the second experiment, ultrasonic vocalization was recorded throughout the whole observational fear learning procedure, and 22 kHz and 50 kHz calls were analyzed. The results of our study show that trait anxiety differently affects direct fear learning and observational fear learning. Direct fear learning was more pronounced with higher trait anxiety, while observational fear learning was the best with a medium-level of trait anxiety. There were no indications in the present study that ultrasonic vocalization, especially emission of 22 kHz calls, but also 50 kHz calls, are critical for observational fear learning.

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Infralimbic cortex activity is required for the expression but not the acquisition of conditioned safety

2020

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The ability to discriminate between danger and safety is crucial for survival across species. Whereas danger signals predict the onset of a potentially threatening event, safety signals indicate the non-occurrence of an aversive event, thereby reducing fear and stress responses. While the neural basis of conditioned safety remains to be elucidated, fear extinction studies provide evidence that the infralimbic cortex (IL) modulates fear inhibition. In the current study, the IL was temporarily inactivated with local muscimol injections in male and female rats. The effect of IL inactivation on the acquisition and expression of conditioned safety was investigated utilizing the startle response. Temporary inactivation of the IL prior to conditioning did not affect the acquisition of conditioned safety, whereas IL inactivation during the expression test completely blocked the expression of conditioned safety in male and female rats. Inactivation of the neighboring prelimbic (PL) cortex during the expression test did not affect the expression of safety memory. Our findings suggest that the IL is a critical brain region for the expression of safety memory. Because patients suffering from anxiety disorders are often unable to make use of safety cues to inhibit fear, the present findings are of clinical relevance and could potentially contribute to therapy optimization of anxiety-related psychiatric disorders.

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The role of trait anxiety in associative learning during and after an aversive event

Cited by 10 publications

References 27 publications

Neuropeptide‐S‐receptor deficiency affects sex‐specific modulation of safety learning by pre‐exposure to electric stimuli

Neuropeptide‐S‐receptor deficiency affects sex‐specific modulation of safety learning by pre‐exposure to electric stimuli

Observational Fear Learning in Rats: Role of Trait Anxiety and Ultrasonic Vocalization

Infralimbic cortex activity is required for the expression but not the acquisition of conditioned safety

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