TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Fear without context: acute stress modulates the balance of cue-dependent and contextual fear learning
JO  - Psychological science
A1  - Simon-Kutscher, Kathrin
A1  - Wanke, Nadine
A1  - Hiller, Carlo
A1  - Schwabe, Lars
SP  - 1123
EP  - 1135
VL  - 30
IS  - 8
N2  - During a threatening encounter, people can learn to associate the aversive event with a discrete preceding cue or with the context in which the event took place, corresponding to cue-dependent and context-dependent fear conditioning, respectively. Which of these forms of fear learning prevails has critical implications for fear-related psychopathology. We tested here whether acute stress may modulate the balance of cue-dependent and contextual fear learning. Participants (<i>N</i> = 72) underwent a stress or control manipulation 30 min before they completed a fear-learning task in a virtual environment that allowed both cued and contextual fear learning. <br><br>RESULTS showed equally strong cue- and context-dependent fear conditioning in the control group. Stress, however, abolished contextual fear learning, which was directly correlated with the activity of the stress hormone cortisol, and made cue-dependent fear more resistant to extinction. These results are the first to show that stress favors cue-dependent over contextual fear learning.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0956-7976
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797619852027
ID  - ref1
ER  -