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).
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex in response to threat omission is associated with subsequent explicit safety memory
Scientific Reports Open Access 28 March 2024
-
Genetic differences associated with dopamine and serotonin release mediate fear-induced bradycardia in the human brain
Translational Psychiatry Open Access 15 January 2024
-
Reactivity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, but not the amygdala, to negative emotion faces predicts greed personality trait
Behavioral and Brain Functions Open Access 01 December 2023
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Schiller D, Delgado MR. Overlapping neural systems mediating extinction, reversal and regulation of fear. Trends Cogn Sci. 2010;14:268–76.
Etkin A, Egner T, Kalisch R. Emotional processing in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex. Trends Cogn Sci. 2011;15:85–93.
Battaglia S, Garofalo S, di Pellegrino G, Starita F. Revaluing the role of vmPFC in the acquisition of pavlovian threat conditioning in humans. J Neurosci. 2020;40:8491–8500.
Fullana MA, Harrison BJ, Soriano-Mas C, Vervliet B, Cardoner N, Àvila-Parcet A, et al. Neural signatures of human fear conditioning: an updated and extended meta-analysis of fMRI studies. Mol Psychiatry. 2016;21:500–8.
Harrison BJ, Fullana MA, Via E, Soriano-Mas C, Vervliet B, Martínez-Zalacaín I, et al. Human ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the positive affective processing of safety signals. Neuroimage. 2017;152:12–18.
Tashjian SM, Zbozinek TD, Mobbs D. A decision architecture for safety computations. Trends Cogn Sci. 2021;25:342–54.
Bechara A, Damasio H, Damasio AR, Lee GP. Different contributions of the human amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex to decision-making. J Neurosci. 1999;19:5473–81.
Taschereau-Dumouchel V, Kawato M, Lau H. Multivoxel pattern analysis reveals dissociations between subjective fear and its physiological correlates. Mol Psychiatry. 2020;25:2342–54.
Lonsdorf TB, Richter J. Challenges of fear conditioning research in the age of RDoC. J Psychol. 2017;225:189–99.
Lonsdorf TB, Klingelhöfer-Jens M, Andreatta M, Beckers T, Chalkia A, Gerlicher A, et al. Navigating the garden of forking paths for data exclusions in fear conditioning research. Elife. 2019;8:e52465.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
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.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
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
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01326-4
This article is cited by
-
Genetic differences associated with dopamine and serotonin release mediate fear-induced bradycardia in the human brain
Translational Psychiatry (2024)
-
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex in response to threat omission is associated with subsequent explicit safety memory
Scientific Reports (2024)
-
Reactivity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, but not the amygdala, to negative emotion faces predicts greed personality trait
Behavioral and Brain Functions (2023)
-
Impact of direct-acting antivirals on neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive dysfunction in chronic hepatitis C patients
The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery (2022)
-
Effect of intra-dialytic physical exercise on depression in prevalent hemodialysis patients
The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery (2022)