Spaced conditioned stimulus presentation facilitates the extinction of strong fear memory in mice

Abstract

Inducing fear memory extinction by re-presenting a conditioned stimulus (CS) is the foundation of exposure therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Investigating differences in the ability of different CS presentation patterns to induce extinction learning is crucial for improving this type of therapy. Using a trace fear conditioning paradigm in mice, we demonstrate that spaced presentation of the CS facilitated the extinction of a strong fear memory to a greater extent than continuous CS presentation. These results lay the groundwork for developing more effective exposure therapy techniques for PTSD.

Keywords: Auditory cue; Exposure therapy; Extinction learning; Generalization; Post-traumatic disorder; Trace fear conditioning.