How the brain learns to predict what to fear based on past experiences
Rutgers researchers are revealing how the brain decides which sensory experiences previously associated with an adverse experience should trigger a fear response.
Researchers led by Rutgers University have uncovered how the brain determines which previously fearful sensory experiences should lead to a fear response. When this mechanism fails, the learned fear can cause maladaptive behaviors even in non-threatening situations. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals that sensory discrimination and the establishment of fear boundaries occur in the early stages of sensory processing in the brain.
By manipulating inhibitory circuits in the olfactory bulbs of mice, scientists found that early sensory processing influences how readily animals generalize their fear to similar but unrelated odors. This suggests that sensory training and targeted drug interventions may be effective in treating fear generalization in anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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