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Fear extinction retention in children, adolescents, and adults

Widegren, Ebba ; Vegelius, Johan ; Frick, Matilda A. ; Roy, Ashika A. ; Möller, Stefan LU orcid ; Kleberg, Johan Lundin ; Hoppe, Johanna Motilla ; Hjorth, Olof ; Fällmar, David and Pine, Daniel S. , et al. (2025) In Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 71.
Abstract

Past results suggest that fear extinction and the return of extinguished fear are compromised in adolescents. However, findings have been inconclusive as there is a lack of fear extinction and extinction retention studies including children, adolescents and adults. In the present study, 36 children (6–9 years), 40 adolescents (13–17 years) and 44 adults (30–40 years), underwent a two-day fear conditioning task. Habituation, acquisition, and extinction were performed on the first day and an extinction retention test > 24 h later. Skin conductance responses were recorded during all phases of fear conditioning and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted during the fear retention test. All groups acquired and... (More)

Past results suggest that fear extinction and the return of extinguished fear are compromised in adolescents. However, findings have been inconclusive as there is a lack of fear extinction and extinction retention studies including children, adolescents and adults. In the present study, 36 children (6–9 years), 40 adolescents (13–17 years) and 44 adults (30–40 years), underwent a two-day fear conditioning task. Habituation, acquisition, and extinction were performed on the first day and an extinction retention test > 24 h later. Skin conductance responses were recorded during all phases of fear conditioning and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted during the fear retention test. All groups acquired and extinguished fear as measured with SCR, with no group differences in SCR during extinction retention. The groups had largely similar neural fear responses during the retention test, apart from adolescents displaying stronger amygdala fear response than children, with no differences between adolescents and adults. The findings do not support an adolescent extinction dip, and there was only marginal evidence of progressive changes in fear conditioning across development. In contrast to findings in rodents, fear conditioning in humans may elicit similar physiological responses and recruit similar neural networks from childhood to adulthood.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Development, Fear conditioning, Fear extinction, Fear retention, FMRI, Threat conditioning
in
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
volume
71
article number
101509
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85214494012
  • pmid:39799854
ISSN
1878-9293
DOI
10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101509
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
id
79720b62-f326-45e9-8a52-aaa6ac8ed64a
date added to LUP
2025-03-24 14:46:08
date last changed
2025-07-14 21:26:48
@article{79720b62-f326-45e9-8a52-aaa6ac8ed64a,
  abstract     = {{<p>Past results suggest that fear extinction and the return of extinguished fear are compromised in adolescents. However, findings have been inconclusive as there is a lack of fear extinction and extinction retention studies including children, adolescents and adults. In the present study, 36 children (6–9 years), 40 adolescents (13–17 years) and 44 adults (30–40 years), underwent a two-day fear conditioning task. Habituation, acquisition, and extinction were performed on the first day and an extinction retention test &gt; 24 h later. Skin conductance responses were recorded during all phases of fear conditioning and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted during the fear retention test. All groups acquired and extinguished fear as measured with SCR, with no group differences in SCR during extinction retention. The groups had largely similar neural fear responses during the retention test, apart from adolescents displaying stronger amygdala fear response than children, with no differences between adolescents and adults. The findings do not support an adolescent extinction dip, and there was only marginal evidence of progressive changes in fear conditioning across development. In contrast to findings in rodents, fear conditioning in humans may elicit similar physiological responses and recruit similar neural networks from childhood to adulthood.</p>}},
  author       = {{Widegren, Ebba and Vegelius, Johan and Frick, Matilda A. and Roy, Ashika A. and Möller, Stefan and Kleberg, Johan Lundin and Hoppe, Johanna Motilla and Hjorth, Olof and Fällmar, David and Pine, Daniel S. and Brocki, Karin and Gingnell, Malin and Frick, Andreas}},
  issn         = {{1878-9293}},
  keywords     = {{Development; Fear conditioning; Fear extinction; Fear retention; FMRI; Threat conditioning}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience}},
  title        = {{Fear extinction retention in children, adolescents, and adults}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101509}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101509}},
  volume       = {{71}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}