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Amygdala-Prefrontal in Fear Extinction
Sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to understand how brain circuits involving the amygdala and prefrontal cortex contribute to fear learning and extinction. Fear extinction is the process by which a fear response decreases when a threat is no longer present. The study will include participants with epilepsy who are undergoing stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) monitoring as part of their clinical care. The main questions this study aims to answer are: How do the amygdala and prefrontal cortex interact during fear learning and extinction? Do different parts and hemispheres of the amygdala have different roles in fear learning and extinction? How does electrical stimulation of the amygdala affect these brain circuits and fear extinction? Participants will complete tasks involving fear learning and extinction while researchers record brain activity from clinically implanted electrodes. Researchers will also use electrical stimulation via these electrodes to study how amygdala activity affects other brain regions and fear extinction.
Official title: Causal Dynamics of Human Amygdala-Prefrontal Circuits During Fear Extinction Learning
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
40
Start Date
2026-09-15
Completion Date
2032-07-31
Last Updated
2026-09-02
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Direct intracranial electrical stimulation
During a resting state and extinction learning phase, participants will receive electrical stimulation (single-pulse and/or high-frequency stimulation) through the intracranial electrodes while recording local field potentials from the neural networks. Direct electrical stimulation will be accomplished using FDA-approved equipment and stimulation protocols that are consistent with those used routinely for clinical purposes.
Fear conditioning
Participants will be involved in a Pavlovian fear conditioning/extinction experiment while recording local field potential signals from the neural networks. During the experiment, neutral stimuli will be paired with an aversive but not painful electric shock (via the surface skin of the hand/foot) or screeching sound.
Locations (1)
Washington University School of Medicine
St Louis, Missouri, United States