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Does the human ventromedial prefrontal cortex support fear learning, fear extinction or both? A commentary on subregional contributions

Molecular Psychiatry volume 27, pages 784–786 (2022)Cite this article

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Current models of human fear learning processes emphasize a primary contribution of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) to fear inhibition (i.e., fear extinction). Here, we discuss crucial findings from recent brain imaging studies that highlight the role of vmPFC and its subregions in how fear is acquired (i.e., fear conditioning).

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Fig. 1: The ventromedial prefrontal cortex in fear conditioning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Simone Battaglia

  2. Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Victoria, Australia

    Ben J. Harrison

  3. Adult Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain

    Miquel A. Fullana

  4. Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain

    Miquel A. Fullana

Authors
  1. Simone Battaglia
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  2. Ben J. Harrison
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  3. Miquel A. Fullana
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Contributions

SB and MAF conceived the idea. SB wrote the manuscript, MAF and BH provided revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Simone Battaglia or Miquel A. Fullana.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Battaglia, S., Harrison, B.J. & Fullana, M.A. Does the human ventromedial prefrontal cortex support fear learning, fear extinction or both? A commentary on subregional contributions. Mol Psychiatry 27, 784–786 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01326-4

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