ArticleInternational journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology2015
Fear load: The psychophysiological over-expression of fear as an intermediate phenotype associated with trauma reactions.
Article in International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
61 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- How childhood adversity affects components of decision making.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Randomized controlled experimental study of hydrocortisone and D-cycloserine effects on fear extinction in PTSD.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Dexamethasone facilitates fear extinction and safety discrimination in PTSD: A placebo-controlled, double-blind study.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2017Trial
- Baseline psychophysiological and cortisol reactivity as a predictor of PTSD treatment outcome in virtual reality exposure therapy.Behaviour research and therapy · 2016Trial
- Eye-tracking and cognitive patterns in post-traumatic stress disorder: a scoping review.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- Dimensions of early life adversity and accelerated biological aging in adolescents: an examination of fear-related mechanisms.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Trauma From the Eye of the Beholder: Reporter Discordance in Children's Trauma, Psychopathology, and Neurobiology.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2026Article
- Post-traumatic stress disorder.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Hormonal Contraceptive Use, Stress Disorders, and Cardiovascular and Thrombotic Risk in Women.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Associations between PACAP levels and psychophysiological indicators of fear and arousal in adults with posttraumatic stress symptoms.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2025Article
- Stress-induced changes in the molecular processes underlying fear memories: implications for PTSD and relevant animal models.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Longitudinal Associations Between Peritraumatic Oestradiol and Fear Responding in Women and Men.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Article
- Pre-pandemic brain structure and COVID-19 fear: insights into posttraumatic stress and general distress.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Advancing the treatment of anxiety disorders in transition-age youth: a review of the therapeutic effects of unconscious exposure.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Review
- HIV Interacts with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder to Impact Fear Psychophysiology in Trauma-Exposed Black Women.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- HIV status affects PTSD symptom severity, psychophysiology, and heart rate variability in women with low but not high exposure to childhood maltreatment.Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Article
- Predicting Fear Extinction in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Pre-Learning Stress That Is Temporally Removed from Acquisition Impairs Fear Learning.Biology · 2023Article
- Beyond Fear, Extinction, and Freezing: Strategies for Improving the Translational Value of Animal Conditioning Research.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2023Article
- Childhood Maltreatment in Females Is Associated with Enhanced Fear Acquisition and an Overgeneralization of Fear.Brain sciences · 2022Article
1 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
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Psychophysiological measures of fear expression provide observable intermediate phenotypes of fear-related symptoms. Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) advocate using neurobiological intermediate phenotypes that provide dimensional correlates of psychopathology. Negative Valence Systems in the RDoC matrix include the construct of acute threat, which can be measured on a physiological level using potentiation of the acoustic startle reflex assessed via electromyography recordings of the orbicularis oculi muscle. Impairments in extinction of fear-potentiated startle due to high levels of fear (termed fear load) during the early phases of extinction have been observed in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goals of the current work were to examine dimensional associations between fear-related symptoms of PTSD and fear load variables to test their validity as an intermediate phenotype. We examined extinction of fear-potentiated startle in a cohort (n=269) of individuals with a broad range of civilian trauma exposure (range 0-13 traumatic events per person, mean=3.5). Based on previously reported findings, we hypothesized that fear load would be significantly associated with intrusion and fear memories of an index traumatic event. The results indicated that early extinction was correlated with intrusive thoughts (p=0.0007) and intense physiological reactions to trauma reminders (p=0.036). Degree of adult or childhood trauma exposure, and depression severity were not associated with fear load. After controlling for age, sex, race, income, level of prior trauma, and level of fear conditioning, fear load during extinction was still significantly predictive of intrusive thoughts (p=0.004). The significance of these findings is that they support dimensional associations with symptom severity rather than diagnostic category and, as such, fear load may emerge as a transdiagnostic intermediate phenotype expressed across fear-related disorders (e.g., specific phobia, social phobia).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.