ReviewPharmacology & therapeutics2015
Pharmacology of cognitive enhancers for exposure-based therapy of fear, anxiety and trauma-related disorders.
Review in Pharmacology & therapeutics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 179 papers, 6 of them syntheses 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
179 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 394 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impaired learning, memory, and extinction in posttraumatic stress disorder: translational meta-analysis of clinical and preclinical studies.Translational psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of SSRIs on fear learning: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychopharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Aromatherapy with inhalation effectively alleviates the test anxiety of college students: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Instruments to measure fear of COVID-19: a diagnostic systematic review.BMC medical research methodology · 2021Pooled it
- A Meta-Analysis of D-Cycloserine in Exposure-Based Treatment: Moderators of Treatment Efficacy, Response, and Diagnostic Remission.The Journal of clinical psychiatry · 2017Pooled it
- D-Cycloserine in Neuropsychiatric Diseases: A Systematic Review.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2016Pooled it
- Alpha-2 Adrenoreceptor Antagonist Yohimbine Potentiates Consolidation of Conditioned Fear.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the medial prefrontal cortex modulates functional connectivity and enhances safety learning in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Results from two pilot studies.Depression and anxiety · 2022Trial
- Stress-induced cortisol reactivity as a predictor of success in treatment for affective dimensions.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2020Trial
- Endogenous in-session cortisol during exposure therapy predicts symptom improvement: Preliminary results from a scopolamine-augmentation trial.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2020Trial
- L-DOPA improves extinction memory retrieval after successful fear extinction.Psychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- The GABAergic system in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus modulates context-related extinction learning and renewal in humans.Brain imaging and behavior · 2017Trial
- A Critical Time Window of Neocortex Modulation for Remote Fear Memory in Rats and Humans.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- The HDAC inhibitor sodium butyrate moderately enhances long-term fear extinction memory retrieval in humans.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Glucocorticoid Receptor Translational Isoforms Generate Unique Glucocorticoid Responses in the Mouse Brain.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026Article
- The helioscope effect: A new framework for evaluating trauma-related memory processing in psychedelic experiences.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Pre-trauma cognitive traits predict fear generalization and associated prefrontal functioning in a longitudinal rodent model.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Mapping memory at scale: systems-level insights with translational and transdiagnostic relevance to fear-related disorders.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- Article
- PUS7-dependent Ψ reshapes specific synaptic gene exons to facilitate fear extinction memory formation.Molecular brain · 2025Article
119 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 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Pathological fear and anxiety are highly debilitating and, despite considerable advances in psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy they remain insufficiently treated in many patients with PTSD, phobias, panic and other anxiety disorders. Increasing preclinical and clinical evidence indicates that pharmacological treatments including cognitive enhancers, when given as adjuncts to psychotherapeutic approaches [cognitive behavioral therapy including extinction-based exposure therapy] enhance treatment efficacy, while using anxiolytics such as benzodiazepines as adjuncts can undermine long-term treatment success. The purpose of this review is to outline the literature showing how pharmacological interventions targeting neurotransmitter systems including serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, histamine, glutamate, GABA, cannabinoids, neuropeptides (oxytocin, neuropeptides Y and S, opioids) and other targets (neurotrophins BDNF and FGF2, glucocorticoids, L-type-calcium channels, epigenetic modifications) as well as their downstream signaling pathways, can augment fear extinction and strengthen extinction memory persistently in preclinical models. Particularly promising approaches are discussed in regard to their effects on specific aspects of fear extinction namely, acquisition, consolidation and retrieval, including long-term protection from return of fear (relapse) phenomena like spontaneous recovery, reinstatement and renewal of fear. We also highlight the promising translational value of the preclinial research and the clinical potential of targeting certain neurochemical systems with, for example d-cycloserine, yohimbine, cortisol, and L-DOPA. The current body of research reveals important new insights into the neurobiology and neurochemistry of fear extinction and holds significant promise for pharmacologically-augmented psychotherapy as an improved approach to treat trauma and anxiety-related disorders in a more efficient and persistent way promoting enhanced symptom remission and recovery.
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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.