Cortisol modifies extinction learning of recently acquired fear in men.
Exposure therapy builds on the mechanism of fear extinction leading to decreased fear responses. How the stress hormone cortisol affects brain regions involved in fear extinction in humans is unknown. For this reason, we tested 32 men randomly assigned to receive either 30 mg hydrocortisone or placebo 45 min before fear extinction. In fear acquisition, a picture of a geometrical figure was either partially paired (conditioned stimulus; CS+) or not paired (CS-) with an electrical stimulation (unconditioned stimulus; UCS). In fear extinction, each CS was presented again, but no UCS occurred. Cortisol increased conditioned skin conductance responses in early and late extinction. In early extinction, higher activation towards the CS- than to the CS+ was found in the amygdala, hippocampus and posterior parahippocampal gyrus. This pattern might be associated with the establishment of a new memory trace. In late extinction, the placebo compared with the cortisol group displayed enhanced CS+/CS- differentiation in the amygdala, medial frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens. A change from early deactivation to late activation of the extinction circuit as seen in the placebo group seems to be needed to enhance extinction and to reduce fear. Cortisol appears to interfere with this process thereby impairing extinction of recently acquired conditioned fear.
Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10F, 35394 Giessen, Germany Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10F, 35394 Giessen, Germany Christian.J.Merz@ruhr-uni-bochum.de.
Christian Josef
CJ
Merz
Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10F, 35394 Giessen, Germany Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10F, 35394 Giessen, Germany.
Andrea
A
Hermann
Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10F, 35394 Giessen, Germany Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10F, 35394 Giessen, Germany.
Rudolf
R
Stark
Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, and Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10F, 35394 Giessen, Germany.
Oliver Tobias
OT
Wolf
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000187:drug effects; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects*; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects*; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000494:pharmacology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
D010100:Oxygen; D006854:Hydrocortisone
amygdala; fMRI; fear conditioning; prefrontal cortex; stress hormones