Eye-movement intervention enhances extinction via amygdala deactivation

This article demonstrates with f-MRI imaging that goal-directed eye-movements, like working-memory tasks, deactivate the amygdala, the core neural substrate of fear learning.

Article Abstract

“Improving extinction learning is essential to optimize psychotherapy for persistent fear-related disorders. In two independent studies (both n = 24), we found that goal-directed eye movements activate a dorsal frontoparietal network and transiently deactivate the amygdala (η_p² = 0.17). Connectivity analyses revealed that this downregulation potentially engages a ventromedial prefrontal pathway known to be involved in cognitive regulation of emotion. Critically, when eye movements followed memory reactivation during extinction learning, it reduced spontaneous fear recovery 24 h later (η_p² = 0.21). Stronger amygdala deactivation furthermore predicted a stronger reduction in subsequent fear recovery after reinstatement (r = 0.39). In conclusion, we show that extinction learning can be improved with a noninvasive eye-movement intervention that triggers a transient suppression of the amygdala. Our finding that another task which taxes working memory leads to a similar amygdala suppression furthermore indicates that this effect is likely not specific to eye movements, which is in line with a large body of behavioral studies. This study contributes to the understanding of a widely used treatment for traumatic symptoms by providing a parsimonious account for how working-memory tasks and goal-directed eye movements can enhance extinction-based psychotherapy, namely through neural circuits (e.g., amygdala deactivation) similar to those that support cognitive control of emotion.”

—Description from publisher

Article Access

Open Access

de Voogd, L. D., Kanen, J. W., Neville, D. A., Roelofs, K., Fernandez, G., & Hermans, E. J. (2018). Eye-movement intervention enhances extinction via amygdala deactivation. Journal of Neuroscience, 38(40), 8694-8706. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0703-18.2018 

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JNeurosci seeks to advance neuroscience research by publishing and widely disseminating high-quality research representative of the breadth of neuroscience; ensuring transparent, rapid, and fair peer review; and providing outlets for open discussion and debate that are not available elsewhere.