The effect of cathodal tDCS on fear extinction: A cross-measures study

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dc.contributor.authorGanho-Avila A.
dc.contributor.authorGoncalves O.F.
dc.contributor.authorGuiomar R.
dc.contributor.authorBoggio P.S.
dc.contributor.authorAsthana M.K.
dc.contributor.authorKrypotos A.-M.
dc.contributor.authorAlmeida J.
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-12T23:52:08Z
dc.date.available2024-03-12T23:52:08Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstract© 2019 Ganho-Ávila et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background Extinction-based procedures are often used to inhibit maladaptive fear responses. However, because extinction procedures show efficacy limitations, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been suggested as a promising add-on enhancer. Objective In this study, we tested how cathodal tDCS over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex affects extinction and tried to unveil the processes at play that boost the effectiveness of extinction procedures and its translational potential to the treatment of anxiety disorders. Methods We implemented a fear conditioning paradigm whereby 41 healthy women (mean age = 20.51 ± 5.0) were assigned to either cathodal tDCS (n = 27) or sham tDCS (n = 16). Fear responses were measured with self-reports, autonomic responses, and implicit avoidance tendencies. Results Cathodal tDCS shows no statistically significant effect in extinction, according to self-reports, and seems to even negatively affect fear conditioned skin conductance responses. However, one to three months after the tDCS session and extinction, we found a group difference in the action tendencies towards the neutral stimuli (F (1, 41) = 12.04, p = .001, ηp2 = .227), with the cathodal tDCS group (as opposed to the sham group) showing a safety learning (a positive bias towards the CS-), with a moderate effect size. This suggests that cathodal tDCS may foster stimuli discrimination, leading to a decreased generalization effect. Discussion Cathodal tDCS may have enhanced long-term distinctiveness between threatening cues and perceptively similar neutral cues through a disambiguation process of the value of the neutral stimuli—a therapeutic target in anxiety disorders. Future studies should confirm these results and extend the study of cathodal tDCS effect on short term avoidance tendencies.
dc.description.issuenumber9
dc.description.volume14
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0221282
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.mackenzie.br/handle/10899/35212
dc.relation.ispartofPLoS ONE
dc.rightsAcesso Aberto
dc.titleThe effect of cathodal tDCS on fear extinction: A cross-measures study
dc.typeArtigo
local.scopus.citations17
local.scopus.eid2-s2.0-85072385980
local.scopus.subjectAdolescent
local.scopus.subjectAdult
local.scopus.subjectAvoidance Learning
local.scopus.subjectConditioning, Classical
local.scopus.subjectExtinction, Psychological
local.scopus.subjectFear
local.scopus.subjectFemale
local.scopus.subjectHumans
local.scopus.subjectPrefrontal Cortex
local.scopus.subjectSelf Report
local.scopus.subjectTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation
local.scopus.subjectYoung Adult
local.scopus.updated2024-05-01
local.scopus.urlhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85072385980&origin=inward
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