title: Cerebellar vermis contributes to the extinction of conditioned fear.
abstract: The cerebellum is known to contribute to the acquisition and retention of conditioned motor and emotional responses. Eyeblink conditioning and fear conditioning have been studied in greatest detail. Whereas a considerable number of studies have shown that the cerebellum is also involved in extinction of conditioned eyeblink responses, the likely contribution of the cerebellum to extinction of conditioned fear responses has largely been ignored. In the present study, we analyzed functional brain imaging data (fMRI) of previous work investigating extinction of conditioned fear in 32 young and healthy men, in which event-related fMRI analysis did not include the cerebellum. This dataset was analyzed using a spatial normalization method optimized for the cerebellum. During fear acquisition, an unpleasant electric shock (unconditioned stimulus; US) was paired with one of two pictures of geometrical figures (conditioned stimulus; CS+), while the other picture (CS-) was never paired with the US. During extinction, CS+ and CS- were presented without the US. During the acquisition phase, the fMRI signal related to the CS+ was significantly higher in hemispheric lobule VI in early compared to late acquisition (p<.05, permutation corrected). During the extinction phase, the fMRI signal related to the contrast CS+>CS- was significantly higher within the anterior vermis in early compared to late extinction (p<.05, permutation corrected). The present data show that the cerebellum is not only associated with the acquisition but also with the extinction of conditioned fear.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Clinic Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45147 Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Utz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Clinic Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45147 Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thürling
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Clinic Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45147 Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience and Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10H, 35394 Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience and Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Str. 10H, 35394 Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: O T
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Clinic Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45147 Essen, Germany. Electronic address: dagmar.timmann-braun@uni-due.de.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Timmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany; Department of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Trier, Johanniterufer 15, 54290 Trier, Germany.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Merz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D065814:Cerebellar Vermis / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cerebellum; Fear conditioning; Fear extinction; Lobule VI; Vermis; fMRI