Laborda Mario A, Polack Cody W, Miguez Gonzalo, Miller Ralph R
Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Chile, Chile; Department of Psychology, State University of New York - Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA.
Department of Psychology, State University of New York - Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2014 Sep;45(3):343-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.02.005. Epub 2014 Mar 12.
Recent data indicate that extinguished fear often returns when the testing conditions differ from those of treatment. Several manipulations including extensive extinction training, extinction in multiple contexts, and spacing the extinction trials and sessions reduce the return of fear. Moreover, extensive extinction and extinction in multiple contexts summate in reducing return of fear, and the spacing of the extinction trials and the spacing of extinction sessions summate in reducing return of fear. Here we evaluated whether these techniques also attenuate the context specificity of latent inhibition, and whether they summate to further decrease fear responding at test.
In two experiments, with rats as subjects in a lick suppression preparation, we assessed the effects of massive CS preexposure, CS preexposure in multiple contexts, and of spacing the CS-preexposure trials and sessions, in reducing the context specificity of latent inhibition.
Fear responding was attenuated by all four manipulations. Moreover, extensive CS preexposure in multiple contexts, and conjoint spacing of the CS-preexposure trials and sessions, were more effective in reducing the context specificity of latent inhibition than each manipulation alone.
Our experimental designs evaluated degrees of context specificity of latent inhibition but omitted groups in which latent inhibition was assessed without a context shift away from the context of latent inhibition treatment. This precluded us from drawing conclusions concerning absolute (as opposed to relative) levels of recovery from latent inhibition.
Techniques effective in decreasing the return of conditioned fear following extinction are also effective in decreasing the context specificity of latent inhibition in an animal model of anxiety. Fear and anxiety disorders might be prevented in anxious human participants with the same techniques used here, but that is still an empirical question.
近期数据表明，当测试条件与治疗条件不同时，消退的恐惧常常会复发。包括广泛消退训练、在多个情境中进行消退以及间隔消退试验和疗程等几种操作可减少恐惧的复发。此外，广泛消退和在多个情境中进行消退在减少恐惧复发方面具有累加作用，并且消退试验的间隔和消退疗程的间隔在减少恐惧复发方面也具有累加作用。在此，我们评估了这些技术是否也能减弱潜伏抑制的情境特异性，以及它们是否具有累加作用以进一步减少测试时的恐惧反应。
在两项实验中，以大鼠为研究对象，采用舔舐抑制实验范式，我们评估了大量条件刺激预暴露、在多个情境中进行条件刺激预暴露以及间隔条件刺激预暴露试验和疗程对减少潜伏抑制情境特异性的影响。
所有这四种操作均减弱了恐惧反应。此外，在多个情境中进行广泛的条件刺激预暴露以及条件刺激预暴露试验和疗程的联合间隔，在减少潜伏抑制的情境特异性方面比单独的每种操作更有效。
我们的实验设计评估了潜伏抑制的情境特异性程度，但遗漏了在不改变潜伏抑制治疗情境的情况下评估潜伏抑制的组。这使我们无法得出关于从潜伏抑制中恢复的绝对（相对于相对）水平的结论。
在消退后有效减少条件性恐惧复发的技术，在焦虑动物模型中也能有效降低潜伏抑制的情境特异性。使用此处相同的技术可能会预防焦虑人类参与者出现恐惧和焦虑障碍，但这仍是一个有待实证验证的问题。
