Effects of anticipatory threat conditioning on neurobiological markers

Background: This study explores how threat learning contributes to the development of fear and anxiety. We aim to determine if observed responses indicate a general novelty marker, are solely linked to arousal, and are influenced by valence. Adopting the transdiagnostic RDoC approach, this study focuses on acute and sustained threat within negative valence systems.Aims: Utilizing a modified Threat Conditioning and Extinction Task (TCET), we examined fear memory traces in healthy over three phases (preconditioning, conditioning, extinction). The study involved subjective ratings of faces associated with different affective tones, and aims to unveil neurobiological (HD-EEG, GSR, HR) and behavioral (face ratings) aspects of fear memory.Preliminary Findings: 19 healthy subjects (mean age: 32.68 ± 15.36) participated, showing a significant main effect of phase (F(1.71, 92.4) = 7.08, p = .002) and interaction between stimuli (F(4, 108) = 3.59, p = .0086) on face ratings. The negative face was rated lower than neutral in conditioning (p = .004) and both negative and positive faces were rated below neutral in extinction (p = .031, p = .019). Preliminary GSR analysis indicated a higher increase within negative faces compared to neutral and positive in the conditioning phase.Further Analysis: Ongoing analysis includes event-related changes for each stimulus, spectral dynamics, and phase coherence with HD-EEG. Heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) will be explored further.