Neurobiological mechanisms underlying the blocking effect in aversive learning.
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Neurobiological mechanisms underlying the blocking effect in aversive learning. / Eippert, Falk; Gamer, Matthias; Büchel, Christian.
in: J NEUROSCI, Jahrgang 32, Nr. 38, 38, 2012, S. 13164-13176.Publikationen: SCORING: Beitrag in Fachzeitschrift/Zeitung › SCORING: Zeitschriftenaufsatz › Forschung › Begutachtung
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Neurobiological mechanisms underlying the blocking effect in aversive learning.
AU - Eippert, Falk
AU - Gamer, Matthias
AU - Büchel, Christian
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Current theories of classical conditioning assume that learning depends on the predictive relationship between events, not just on their temporal contiguity. Here we employ the classic experiment substantiating this reasoning-the blocking paradigm-in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether human amygdala responses in aversive learning conform to these assumptions. In accordance with blocking, we demonstrate that significantly stronger behavioral and amygdala responses are evoked by conditioned stimuli that are predictive of the unconditioned stimulus than by conditioned stimuli that have received the same pairing with the unconditioned stimulus, yet have no predictive value. When studying the development of this effect, we not only observed that it was related to the strength of previous conditioned responses, but also that predictive compared with nonpredictive conditioned stimuli received more overt attention, as measured by fMRI-concurrent eye tracking, and that this went along with enhanced amygdala responses. We furthermore observed that prefrontal regions play a role in the development of the blocking effect: ventromedial prefrontal cortex (subgenual anterior cingulate) only exhibited responses when conditioned stimuli had to be established as nonpredictive for an outcome, whereas dorsolateral prefrontal cortex also showed responses when conditioned stimuli had to be established as predictive. Most importantly, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex connectivity to amygdala flexibly switched between positive and negative coupling, depending on the requirements posed by predictive relationships. Together, our findings highlight the role of predictive value in explaining amygdala responses and identify mechanisms that shape these responses in human fear conditioning.
AB - Current theories of classical conditioning assume that learning depends on the predictive relationship between events, not just on their temporal contiguity. Here we employ the classic experiment substantiating this reasoning-the blocking paradigm-in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether human amygdala responses in aversive learning conform to these assumptions. In accordance with blocking, we demonstrate that significantly stronger behavioral and amygdala responses are evoked by conditioned stimuli that are predictive of the unconditioned stimulus than by conditioned stimuli that have received the same pairing with the unconditioned stimulus, yet have no predictive value. When studying the development of this effect, we not only observed that it was related to the strength of previous conditioned responses, but also that predictive compared with nonpredictive conditioned stimuli received more overt attention, as measured by fMRI-concurrent eye tracking, and that this went along with enhanced amygdala responses. We furthermore observed that prefrontal regions play a role in the development of the blocking effect: ventromedial prefrontal cortex (subgenual anterior cingulate) only exhibited responses when conditioned stimuli had to be established as nonpredictive for an outcome, whereas dorsolateral prefrontal cortex also showed responses when conditioned stimuli had to be established as predictive. Most importantly, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex connectivity to amygdala flexibly switched between positive and negative coupling, depending on the requirements posed by predictive relationships. Together, our findings highlight the role of predictive value in explaining amygdala responses and identify mechanisms that shape these responses in human fear conditioning.
KW - Adult
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Female
KW - Young Adult
KW - Pain Measurement
KW - Predictive Value of Tests
KW - Photic Stimulation
KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
KW - Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
KW - Analysis of Variance
KW - Attention
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - Oxygen/blood
KW - Prefrontal Cortex/blood supply/physiology
KW - Reaction Time/physiology
KW - Psychophysics
KW - Amygdala/blood supply/physiology
KW - Avoidance Learning/physiology
KW - Conditioning, Classical/physiology
KW - Fear/physiology
KW - Neural Pathways/blood supply/physiology
KW - Adult
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Female
KW - Young Adult
KW - Pain Measurement
KW - Predictive Value of Tests
KW - Photic Stimulation
KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
KW - Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
KW - Analysis of Variance
KW - Attention
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - Oxygen/blood
KW - Prefrontal Cortex/blood supply/physiology
KW - Reaction Time/physiology
KW - Psychophysics
KW - Amygdala/blood supply/physiology
KW - Avoidance Learning/physiology
KW - Conditioning, Classical/physiology
KW - Fear/physiology
KW - Neural Pathways/blood supply/physiology
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
VL - 32
SP - 13164
EP - 13176
JO - J NEUROSCI
JF - J NEUROSCI
SN - 0270-6474
IS - 38
M1 - 38
ER -
