In this study we trialled a novel paradigm that aims to bridge the gap between the research into the extinction of conditioned responses and the instructed regulation of emotion via a prescribed strategy. This was done through a process we called Selective Extinction through Cognitive Evaluation (SECE). Participants were conditioned to associate a previously neutral stimulus (letter, CS+) with an aversive burst of white noise (US) and another letter with no aversive event (CS-). In a second phase, the same letters were presented within words belonging to two distinct categories. One group did not receive any more noise bursts during this phase which lead to the extinction of the conditioned responses (extinction group). The other group (SECE group) was told that the CS+ now only carried a risk of the noise occurring when it was presented in one (dangerous), but not the other word category (safe). Affective responses were assessed using skin conductance responses (SCR). We found overall increased SCR’s in response to CS+ (safe and dangerous) compared to CS- trials in the SECE group, and also increased SCR’s in response to dangerous compared to safe CS+ trials. This suggests that the conditioned response (CR) can be reduced through the cognitive evaluation of additional information and it is possible that extinction mechanisms are involved in this process. We did not find any effects in the extinction group. It is possible that extinction was completed too quickly so that any differences between conditions could not be captured. We therefore conducted a second study to pilot an improved paradigm. We visually amended the trials, amended the reinforcement schedule, and changed to a fully within-subjects design. Here we once again found significantly reduced SCR to safe compared to dangerous CS+ trials. Future experiments will use these results as a basis for an improved paradigm to better capture changes in SCR as well as BOLD fMRI in future experiments.
Selective extinction through cognitive evaluation: Linking emotion regulation and extinction