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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).

Since the dawn of psychology, fear conditioning paradigms have been successfully used to reveal the psychological processes that govern the acquisition and expression of emotional memories and their neurobiological underpinnings. From an evolutionary perspective, learned fear serves to activate defensive behaviours in anticipation of harm, thus supporting an organisms’ chances of survival and well-being. Fear conditioning has moved beyond the realm of associative learning theory to become a framework of substantial interest in the neuroscience of learning, memory, and emotion. Neural circuits have been mapped, synaptic plasticity in these circuits has been identified, and biochemical and genetic investigations are beginning to disentangle the molecular mechanisms responsible for the storage and expression of fear memories. It is anticipated that these advances will improve our understanding of common mental health conditions characterized by pathological fear and lead to future optimized treatments. However, despite a century of research, the neural circuitry underlying human fear-learning is still a matter of debate. One important issue in this regard relates to the contribution of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and its subregions. Specifically, while the predominant view of vmPFC function is that it underlies successful fear extinction [1, 2], recent work suggests that it may also play a major role in fear conditioning [3,4,5], as processed within its posterior subregion [6].

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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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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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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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