ReviewNeurobiology of learning and memory2014
From Pavlov to PTSD: the extinction of conditioned fear in rodents, humans, and anxiety disorders.
Review in Neurobiology of learning and memory, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 240 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
240 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 475 citations in OpenAlex.
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for post-traumatic stress disorder in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Impaired learning, memory, and extinction in posttraumatic stress disorder: translational meta-analysis of clinical and preclinical studies.Translational psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- A Systematic Review on the Effect of Transcranial Direct Current and Magnetic Stimulation on Fear Memory and Extinction.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Non-invasive brain stimulation for posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- A translational perspective on neural circuits of fear extinction: Current promises and challenges.Neurobiology of learning and memory · 2018Pooled it
- Cerebellar Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in the Theta Band Prevents Recall of the Initial Fear Association After Extinction Training.Human brain mapping · 2026Trial
- Effect of app-based mindfulness on extinction recall - a 7T-fMRI study.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- The Effect of Suvorexant on Fear Extinction Recall: A Double-Blind Randomised Controlled Pilot Trial in Healthy Individuals.Journal of sleep research · 2025Trial
- Social support facilitates threat extinction retention in humans: an fMRI study.Translational psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Effects of intranasal oxytocin on fear extinction learning.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Effect of Dexmedetomidine on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Patients Undergoing Emergency Trauma Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Simultaneous Application of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation during Virtual Reality Exposure.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2021Trial
- Learning mechanisms in nocebo hyperalgesia: the role of conditioning and extinction processes.Pain · 2020Trial
- Modulation of fear extinction processes using transcranial electrical stimulation.Translational psychiatry · 2016Trial
- Comparisons of extinction, counterconditioning, and novelty-facilitated extinction within ABA vs. ABC renewal designs.Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition · 2026Article
- Severe PTSD symptoms magnify episodic memory-encoding deficits and amygdala-ACC attenuation during unpredictable threat in male combat veterans.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Optogenetic stimulation of the infralimbic cortex prior to fear extinction learning rescues deficits in a preclinical model of comorbid PTSD and AUD.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Physical restraint induces conditioned place aversion and region-specific c-Fos activation in mice.Neuroscience letters · 2026Article
- Contextual Engagement to Enhance Effective Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: A Theoretical and Mechanistic Perspective.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2026Article
- Stress-Enhanced Fear Learning in Rodents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Fear-Learning Sensitization After Severe Stress.Brain sciences · 2026Review
180 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Nearly 100 years ago, Ivan Pavlov demonstrated that dogs could learn to use a neutral cue to predict a biologically relevant event: after repeated predictive pairings, Pavlov's dogs were conditioned to anticipate food at the sound of a bell, which caused them to salivate. Like sustenance, danger is biologically relevant, and neutral cues can take on great salience when they predict a threat to survival. In anxiety disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this type of conditioned fear fails to extinguish, and reminders of traumatic events can cause pathological conditioned fear responses for decades after danger has passed. In this review, we use fear conditioning and extinction studies to draw a direct line from Pavlov to PTSD and other anxiety disorders. We explain how rodent studies have informed neuroimaging studies of healthy humans and humans with PTSD. We describe several genes that have been linked to both PTSD and fear conditioning and extinction and explain how abnormalities in fear conditioning or extinction may reflect a general biomarker of anxiety disorders. Finally, we explore drug and neuromodulation treatments that may enhance therapeutic extinction in anxiety disorders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.