Effects of Verbal Instructions on Fear Extinction and Extinction Retrieval
- Conditions
- Anxiety Disorder
- Interventions
- Other: Explicit instructions before extinctionOther: Explicit instructions after extinction
- Registration Number
- NCT05718271
- Lead Sponsor
- Ruhr University of Bochum
- Brief Summary
The goal of this study is to examine if verbal instructions can improve fear extinction learning and extinction retrieval in patients with anxiety disorders (AD) and healthy controls.
- Detailed Description
Patients with anxiety disorders (AD) and highly anxious individuals show accelerated fear conditioning and diminished fear extinction learning (Duits et al., 2015). The aim of the current study is to investigate how verbal instructions impact fear extinction learning and extinction retrieval in AD patients and healthy controls. Using a 3-day fear conditioning paradigm, fear acquisition will take place on the first, extinction training on the second, and extinction retrieval and reinstatement on the third day (i.e., all phases are on consecutive days). Part of the participants will receive explicit instructions such that the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) won't be presented anymore, either before and/or after extinction training. Participants will be randomly assigned to four conditions: (1) no explicit instructions at all, (2) explicit instructions before extinction, (3) explicit instructions after extinction or (4) explicit instructions before and after extinction.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- RECRUITING
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 240
- For the patient group: DSM-5 anxiety disorder diagnosis via a structured clinical interview for diagnosing mental disorders (DIPS)
- For the healthy controls: no psychological disorder according to the Mini-DIPS
- smoking
- alcohol abuse
- drug consumption
- current and chronic physical and neurological diseases
- for the patient group: anxiety not the primary diagnosis, psychological comorbidities e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, mental retardation, acute drug or alcohol addiction, personality disorder, currently in psychotherapy
- for the healthy controls: a diagnosis of psychological disorder at any point in life, ever been in psychotherapy, current and/or regular intake of medicine (incl. psychopharmaceutic medicine), current or past cognitive or neurological disorder
- for women: pregnancy, nursing period
- previous experience with fear conditioning paradigm
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Explicit instructions before + after extinction Explicit instructions after extinction - Explicit instructions before extinction Explicit instructions before extinction - Explicit instructions before + after extinction Explicit instructions before extinction - Explicit instructions after extinction Explicit instructions after extinction -
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Fear extinction learning Experimental Day 2 The difference between the reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS+) and non-reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS-) will be measured on 3 different levels: skin conductance responses (SCRs), CS valence ratings ("How pleasant do you feel when you see this picture?"), and UCS expectancy ratings ("Do you think that this picture is paired with an electrical stimulation?").
Extinction retrieval Experimental Day 3 The difference between the reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS+) and non-reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS-) will be measured on 3 different levels: skin conductance responses (SCRs), CS valence ratings ("How pleasant do you feel when you see this picture?"), and UCS expectancy ratings ("Do you think that this picture is paired with an electrical stimulation?").
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Contingency awareness Experimental Day 1 After fear acquisition, it will be checked if participants can correctly determine which CS had been paired with the UCS.
Fear acquisition Experimental Day 1 The difference between the reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS+) and non-reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS-) will be measured on 3 different levels: skin conductance responses (SCRs), CS valence ratings ("How pleasant do you feel when you see this picture?"), and UCS expectancy ratings ("Do you think that this picture is paired with an electrical stimulation?").
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Ruhr University Bochum
🇩🇪Bochum, Germany