Conditioned Fear Extinction

Since there are competing views and observations for conditioned fear response, researchers have turned to the cellular level to release the specific brain mechanism of extinction. In particular these are brain structures of the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and specific neurotransmitter systems (e.g. GABA). A recent study by Amano, Unai, and Pare found extinction is correlated with synaptic inhibition in the fear output of the neurons in the amygdala that project to the periaqueductal gray that controls freezing behavior. They infer that inhibition comes from the prefrontal cortex and suggest targets at the cellular level for new treatments for anxiety.

When an aversive stimulus is coupled with a neutral stimulus it affects long term plasticity in the hippocampus in memory formation. Since the neutral stimulus gates to the amygdala, an aversive stimulus occurs even when aversion isn’t there.

Through neural emotional pathways, it is possible to determine if the stress is somatosensory, visual, auditory, etc that is causing pain in processing and functioning. In further use of neurons, we create a resolution, bring up a suppression, modulate or have an expression of the conditioned fear to alleviate the stress and provide more comfortable functioning.

This can be done by phone and in person.