Pre-Learning Stress That Is Temporally Removed from Acquisition Impairs Fear Learning.

Few studies have examined the time-dependent effects of stress on fear learning. Previously, we found that stress immediately before fear conditioning enhanced fear learning. Here, we aimed to extend these findings by assessing the effects of stress 30 min prior to fear conditioning on fear learning and fear generalization. Two hundred and twenty-one healthy adults underwent stress (socially evaluated cold pressor test) or a control manipulation 30 min before completing differential fear conditioning in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm. One visual stimulus (CS+), but not another (CS-), was associated with an aversive airblast to the throat (US) during acquisition. The next day, participants were tested for their fear responses to the CS+, CS-, and several generalization stimuli. Stress impaired the acquisition of fear on Day 1 but had no significant impact on fear generalization. The stress-induced impairment of fear learning was particularly evident in participants who exhibited a robust cortisol response to the stressor. These findings are consistent with the notion that stress administered 30 min before learning impairs memory formation via corticosteroid-related mechanisms and may help us understand how fear memories are altered in stress-related psychological disorders.

Immediate pre-learning stress enhances baseline startle response and fear acquisition in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm.

Extensive work has shown that stress time-dependently influences hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. In particular, stress that is administered immediately before learning enhances long-term memory, while stress that is temporally separated from learning impairs long-term memory. We have extended these findings by examining the impact of immediate, pre-learning stress on an amygdala-dependent fear conditioning task. One hundred and forty-one healthy participants underwent a stress (socially evaluated cold pressor test) or control manipulation immediately before completing differential fear conditioning in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm. Participants then completed extinction and extinction memory testing sessions 24 and 48 h later, respectively. Stress administered immediately before acquisition increased baseline startle responses and enhanced fear learning, as evidenced by greater fear-potentiated startle to the CS + . Although no group differences were observed during extinction training on Day 2, stressed participants exhibited evidence of impaired extinction processes on Day 3, an effect that was driven by group differences in acquisition. Importantly, stressed participants' cortisol responses to the stressor on Day 1 were positively associated with CS discrimination on Days 2 and 3. These findings suggest that stress immediately before fear conditioning strengthens fear memory formation and produces a more enduring fear memory, perhaps via corticosteroid activity. Such a paradigm could be useful for understanding factors that influence traumatic memory formation.