Differential acquisition, extinction, and reinstatement of conditioned suppression in mice.
In animals, the reappearance of conditioned fear responses after extinction has been primarily investigated using single-cue conditioning paradigms. However, a differential paradigm can overcome several of the disadvantages associated with a single-cue procedure. In the present study, the reinstatement phenomenon was assessed in mice using a differential conditioned suppression paradigm. In a first phase, one conditioned stimulus (CS + ) was consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US; footshock) while another CS (CS-) was not, resulting in selective suppression of previously trained instrumental behaviour during the CS + . After the extinction phase, half of the animals (reinstatement group) were presented with unsignalled USs, while the other half were not (control group). A differential return of conditioned responding was observed in the reinstatement group, but not in the control group. The implications of these findings for future conditioning research are discussed.
Dirikx
Trinette
T
Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Netje.Dirikx@psy.kuleuven.be
Beckers
Tom
T
Muyls
Clara
C
Eelen
Paul
P
Vansteenwegen
Debora
D
Hermans
Dirk
D
D'Hooge
Rudi
R
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012094:Repression, Psychology