Topic: observational fear learning

In this study, we investigate how contextual memory is shaped by observational fear learning during encoding and recall. We are imaging neurons in layer 2/3 of the retrosplenial cortex in GCaMP6s mice with two-photon Ca2+ imaging using a head-fixed observational fear learning paradigm in virtual reality. The animals are surrounded by three screens and run on a running wheel as they travel through 3 different VR environments. In two of the environments, we play recordings of mouse vocalisations emitted while they were receiving foot shocks, and a neutral sound in the third environment. A single

The aim of this fMRI study was to assess the role of affect sharing (AS), an important aspect of empathy, in observational fear learning. N=37 students completed an observational Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm, in which they learned to fear a cue (assessed in a subsequent test stage) by watching videos of a demonstrator receiving shocks with that cue (learning stage). Participants watched the videos in a state of high or low AS, respectively, induced by hypnotic suggestions, using a within-subjects design. Unconditioned responses (UR) to the demonstrator’s pain during learning and condit