Sex differences in the neurobiology of fear conditioning and extinction: a preliminary fMRI study of shared sex differences with stress-arousal circuitry.

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Version: Final published version
Serval ID
serval:BIB_73A408E1147C
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Sex differences in the neurobiology of fear conditioning and extinction: a preliminary fMRI study of shared sex differences with stress-arousal circuitry.
Journal
Biology of Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Author(s)
Lebron-Milad K., Abbs B., Milad M.R., Linnman C., Rougemount-Bücking A., Zeidan M.A., Holt D.J., Goldstein J.M.
ISSN
2045-5380 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
2045-5380
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2012
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
2
Number
1
Pages
7
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal ArticlePublication Status: epublish
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The amygdala, hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and brain-stem subregions are implicated in fear conditioning and extinction, and are brain regions known to be sexually dimorphic. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate sex differences in brain activity in these regions during fear conditioning and extinction.
METHODS: Subjects were 12 healthy men comparable to 12 healthy women who underwent a 2-day experiment in a 3 T MR scanner. Fear conditioning and extinction learning occurred on day 1 and extinction recall occurred on day 2. The conditioned stimuli were visual cues and the unconditioned stimulus was a mild electric shock. Skin conductance responses (SCR) were recorded throughout the experiment as an index of the conditioned response. fMRI data (blood-oxygen-level-dependent [BOLD] signal changes) were analyzed using SPM8.
RESULTS: Findings showed no significant sex differences in SCR during any experimental phases. However, during fear conditioning, there were significantly greater BOLD-signal changes in the right amygdala, right rostral anterior cingulate (rACC) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in women compared with men. In contrast, men showed significantly greater signal changes in bilateral rACC during extinction recall.
CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate sex differences in brain activation within the fear circuitry of healthy subjects despite similar peripheral autonomic responses. Furthermore, we found that regions where sex differences were previously reported in response to stress, also exhibited sex differences during fear conditioning and extinction.
Pubmed
Open Access
Yes
Create date
12/07/2013 10:59
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:31
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