Fear responses can be erased when new learning occurs during memory retrieval, a University of Amsterdam study finds
Scientists at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) report that an acquired fear response can be permanently disrupted, but only when the person retrieves the fear memory while simultaneously learning something new. Published in the journal Science, this research identifies the specific conditions under which a conditioned fear can be made to disappear and provides a measurable way to tell when a memory is susceptible to change.
How the researchers tested fear memory stability
Lead researchers Dieuwke Sevenster, Tom Beckers and Merel Kindt developed an experimental procedure that combines standard fear conditioning with a test for “prediction error” — the mismatch between what a person expects to happen and what actually occurs. In their study, participants learned to associate a particular picture with an unpleasant, painful stimulus. While viewing the images, participants reported their expectancy of receiving the painful stimulus, and the researchers measured physiological fear responses using the startle reflex.
Prediction error plays a central role in this framework: if the outcome differs from the participant’s expectation, that discrepancy signals that the memory is pliable and may be updated. The team used this signal to determine whether the fear memory was in a state that could be modified.
Pharmacological interruption of reconsolidation
Previous work from Kindt’s laboratory found that administering propranolol, a beta-blocker that can interfere with memory reconsolidation, during retrieval of a specific fear memory prevented the return of fear when tested later. In the present study, the researchers used similar pharmacological manipulation together with their prediction-error measure to pinpoint when a fear memory could be successfully altered.
The results showed that when retrieval was accompanied by new learning — that is, when prediction error occurred — the subsequent administration of propranolol led to a lasting absence of the previously learned fear response. Across multiple tests, the fear did not return even when researchers applied techniques designed to reinstate it, indicating that the conditioned fear was either fully erased or rendered inaccessible in the way it previously expressed itself. Importantly, participants could still recall the association cognitively, but that recollection no longer produced the physiological fear reaction.
Implications for treatment of anxiety disorders
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) remains the most widely used treatment for anxiety disorders, yet relapse is common and fear often returns for many patients. The UvA findings suggest a potential path to therapies that are both more effective and longer lasting: if clinicians can reliably trigger prediction error during memory retrieval, they may be able to update or disrupt pathological fear memories rather than only providing temporary suppression.
This study provides an objective indicator — prediction error — to determine whether a retrieved memory is in a malleable state. By linking a measurable learning signal to the success of pharmacological disruption of memory reconsolidation, the research advances understanding of when and how fear memories can be altered. That has clear relevance for treatment strategies aimed at trauma survivors and others with excessive or persistent anxiety.
About the study and contact information
Contact: Merel Kindt – University of Amsterdam
Source: University of Amsterdam press release
Original research citation: D. Sevenster, T. Beckers and M. Kindt, “Prediction Error Governs Pharmacologically Induced Amnesia for Learned Fear,” Science, 15 February 2013, Vol. 339, no. 6121, pp. 830–833. DOI: 10.1126/science.1231357
