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Ernst TM, Brol AE, Gratz M, Ritter C, Bingel U, Schlamann M, Maderwald S, Quick HH, Merz CJ, Timmann D. The cerebellum is involved in processing of predictions and prediction errors in a fear conditioning paradigm. eLife 2019; 8:46831. [PMID: 31464686 PMCID: PMC6715348 DOI: 10.7554/elife.46831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Prediction errors are thought to drive associative fear learning. Surprisingly little is known about the possible contribution of the cerebellum. To address this question, healthy participants underwent a differential fear conditioning paradigm during 7T magnetic resonance imaging. An event-related design allowed us to separate cerebellar fMRI signals related to the visual conditioned stimulus (CS) from signals related to the subsequent unconditioned stimulus (US; an aversive electric shock). We found significant activation of cerebellar lobules Crus I and VI bilaterally related to the CS+ compared to the CS-. Most importantly, significant activation of lobules Crus I and VI was also present during the unexpected omission of the US in unreinforced CS+ acquisition trials. This activation disappeared during extinction when US omission became expected. These findings provide evidence that the cerebellum has to be added to the neural network processing predictions and prediction errors in the emotional domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Michael Ernst
- Department of Neurology, Essen University Hospital, Essen, Germany.,Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | | | - Marcel Gratz
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.,High-Field and Hybrid MR Imaging, Essen University Hospital, Essen, Germany
| | - Christoph Ritter
- Department of Neurology, Essen University Hospital, Essen, Germany
| | - Ulrike Bingel
- Department of Neurology, Essen University Hospital, Essen, Germany
| | - Marc Schlamann
- Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Essen University Hospital, Essen, Germany.,Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Stefan Maderwald
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Harald H Quick
- Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.,High-Field and Hybrid MR Imaging, Essen University Hospital, Essen, Germany
| | - Christian Josef Merz
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Dagmar Timmann
- Department of Neurology, Essen University Hospital, Essen, Germany.,Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
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