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Sleep and the generalization of fear learning

Davidson, Per LU ; Carlsson, Ingegerd LU ; Jönsson, Peter and Johansson, Mikael LU orcid (2016) In Journal of Sleep Research 25(1). p.88-95
Abstract
Fear conditioning is an important survival mechanism, as is the ability to generalize learned fear responses to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus. Overgeneralization of fear learning, prominent in many anxiety disorders, is however highly maladaptive. Because sleep is involved in the consolidation of fear learning, and in active processing of information, the present study explored the effect of sleep on generalization of fear learning. Participants watched a random sequence of pictures of a small and a big circle, one of them coupled with an aversive sound. Then, after a delay period containing either a nap or wake, generalization was examined as participants watched the two circles again, together with eight... (More)
Fear conditioning is an important survival mechanism, as is the ability to generalize learned fear responses to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus. Overgeneralization of fear learning, prominent in many anxiety disorders, is however highly maladaptive. Because sleep is involved in the consolidation of fear learning, and in active processing of information, the present study explored the effect of sleep on generalization of fear learning. Participants watched a random sequence of pictures of a small and a big circle, one of them coupled with an aversive sound. Then, after a delay period containing either a nap or wake, generalization was examined as participants watched the two circles again, together with eight novel circles that gradually varied in size between the former two. Results showed that the fear response increased as a function of similarity to the conditioned response. However, there was no difference in the degree of generalization between the sleep and the wake group. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Sleep Research
volume
25
issue
1
pages
88 - 95
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:26359128
  • wos:000367618900013
  • scopus:84952863146
  • pmid:26359128
ISSN
1365-2869
DOI
10.1111/jsr.12339
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
First published Online, 11 September 2015
id
056f897a-95ce-4930-9495-ac1c42df4f12 (old id 8042565)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:24:37
date last changed
2022-04-04 17:45:46
@article{056f897a-95ce-4930-9495-ac1c42df4f12,
  abstract     = {{Fear conditioning is an important survival mechanism, as is the ability to generalize learned fear responses to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus. Overgeneralization of fear learning, prominent in many anxiety disorders, is however highly maladaptive. Because sleep is involved in the consolidation of fear learning, and in active processing of information, the present study explored the effect of sleep on generalization of fear learning. Participants watched a random sequence of pictures of a small and a big circle, one of them coupled with an aversive sound. Then, after a delay period containing either a nap or wake, generalization was examined as participants watched the two circles again, together with eight novel circles that gradually varied in size between the former two. Results showed that the fear response increased as a function of similarity to the conditioned response. However, there was no difference in the degree of generalization between the sleep and the wake group.}},
  author       = {{Davidson, Per and Carlsson, Ingegerd and Jönsson, Peter and Johansson, Mikael}},
  issn         = {{1365-2869}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{88--95}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Sleep Research}},
  title        = {{Sleep and the generalization of fear learning}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12339}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/jsr.12339}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}