Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40902948›Full record

ArticleBiological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging2026

Slow Oscillation-Sleep Spindle Coupling Is Associated With Expectancy Measures of Fear Extinction Retention in Trauma-Exposed Individuals.

Dan Denis, Ryan Bottary, Tony J Cunningham, Per Davidson, Cagri Yuksel, Mohammed R Milad, Edward F Pace-Schott

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In one paragraph

Article in Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Dan DenisDepartment of Psychology, University of York, York, United Kingdom. Electronic address: dan.denis@york.ac.uk.
Ryan BottaryInstitute for Graduate Clinical Psychology, Widener University, Chester, Pennsylvania.
Tony J CunninghamCenter for Sleep and Cognition, Psychiatry Department, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts; Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Per DavidsonDepartment of Psychology, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden.
Cagri YukselSchizophrenia and Bipolar Research Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Mohammed R MiladMcGovern Medical School, University of Texas, Houston, Texas.
Edward F Pace-SchottDivision of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Mass General Brigham, Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Funding

Fear extinction and sleep across the spectrum of severity in post-traumatic hyperarousalR01MH109638 · NIMH · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI PACE-SCHOTT, EDWARD F. · 2016 to 2019
$2.5M
Interaction of sleep disturbance and anxiety symptoms in the neural and psychophysiological responses to fear conditioning and extinction in Generalized Anxiety DisorderR21MH115279 · NIMH · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI PACE-SCHOTT, EDWARD F. · 2018 to 2019
$463k
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH109638NIMH NIH HHS R21 MH115279
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be characterized as a disorder of fear learning and memory in which there is a failure to retain memory for the extinction of conditioned fear. Sleep has been implicated in successful extinction retention. The coupling of sleep spindles to slow oscillations (SOs) during non-rapid eye movement sleep has been shown to broadly underpin sleep's beneficial effect on memory consolidation. However, the role of this oscillatory coupling in the retention of extinction memories is unknown.

methodsIn a large sample of 124 trauma-exposed individuals, we investigated SO-spindle coupling in relation to fear extinction memory.

resultsWe found that participants with a PTSD diagnosis, relative to trauma-exposed control participants, showed significantly altered SO-spindle timing, such that participants with PTSD exhibited spindle coupling farther away from the peak of the SO. Across participants, the amount of coupling significantly predicted extinction retention, with coupled spindles uniquely predicting successful extinction retention compared with uncoupled spindles.

conclusionsThese results suggest that SO-spindle coupling is critical for successful retention of extinguished fear and that SO-spindle coupling dynamics are altered in PTSD. These alterations in the mechanics of sleep may have substantial clinical implications, meriting further investigation.

Indexed as

Extinction, PsychologicalFearRetention, PsychologyStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdultElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMaleMemory ConsolidationYoung AdultExtinction retentionFear extinctionPosttraumatic stress disorderSleep spindleSlow oscillationTrauma-exposed

Identifiers

PMID40902948
PMCPMC12421132

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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.