Left Prefrontal Activity Reflects the Ability of Vicarious Fear Learning: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study
Fear could be acquired indirectly via social observation. However, it remains unclear which cortical substrate activities are involved in vicarious fear transmission. The present study was to examine empathy-related processes during fear learning by-proxy and to examine the activation of prefrontal...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2013-01-01
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| Series: | The Scientific World Journal |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/652542 |
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| author | Qingguo Ma Yujing Huang Lei Wang |
| author_facet | Qingguo Ma Yujing Huang Lei Wang |
| author_sort | Qingguo Ma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fear could be acquired indirectly via social observation. However, it remains unclear which cortical substrate activities are involved in vicarious fear transmission. The present study was to examine empathy-related processes during fear learning by-proxy and to examine the activation of prefrontal cortex by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. We simultaneously measured participants’ hemodynamic responses and skin conductance responses when they were exposed to a movie. In this movie, a demonstrator (i.e., another human being) was receiving a classical fear conditioning. A neutral colored square paired with shocks (CSshock) and another colored square paired with no shocks (CSno-shock) were randomly presented in front of the demonstrator. Results showed that increased concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in left prefrontal cortex was observed when participants watched a demonstrator seeing CSshock compared with that exposed to CSno-shock. In addition, enhanced skin conductance responses showing a demonstrator's aversive experience during learning object-fear association were observed. The present study suggests that left prefrontal cortex, which may reflect speculation of others’ mental state, is associated with social fear transmission. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9d9270e30b514a7eb0d05b9f4331389f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1537-744X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Scientific World Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-9d9270e30b514a7eb0d05b9f4331389f2025-08-20T02:20:30ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal1537-744X2013-01-01201310.1155/2013/652542652542Left Prefrontal Activity Reflects the Ability of Vicarious Fear Learning: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy StudyQingguo Ma0Yujing Huang1Lei Wang2Neuromanagement Laboratory, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310028, ChinaNeuromanagement Laboratory, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310028, ChinaNeuromanagement Laboratory, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310028, ChinaFear could be acquired indirectly via social observation. However, it remains unclear which cortical substrate activities are involved in vicarious fear transmission. The present study was to examine empathy-related processes during fear learning by-proxy and to examine the activation of prefrontal cortex by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. We simultaneously measured participants’ hemodynamic responses and skin conductance responses when they were exposed to a movie. In this movie, a demonstrator (i.e., another human being) was receiving a classical fear conditioning. A neutral colored square paired with shocks (CSshock) and another colored square paired with no shocks (CSno-shock) were randomly presented in front of the demonstrator. Results showed that increased concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in left prefrontal cortex was observed when participants watched a demonstrator seeing CSshock compared with that exposed to CSno-shock. In addition, enhanced skin conductance responses showing a demonstrator's aversive experience during learning object-fear association were observed. The present study suggests that left prefrontal cortex, which may reflect speculation of others’ mental state, is associated with social fear transmission.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/652542 |
| spellingShingle | Qingguo Ma Yujing Huang Lei Wang Left Prefrontal Activity Reflects the Ability of Vicarious Fear Learning: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study The Scientific World Journal |
| title | Left Prefrontal Activity Reflects the Ability of Vicarious Fear Learning: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study |
| title_full | Left Prefrontal Activity Reflects the Ability of Vicarious Fear Learning: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study |
| title_fullStr | Left Prefrontal Activity Reflects the Ability of Vicarious Fear Learning: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Left Prefrontal Activity Reflects the Ability of Vicarious Fear Learning: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study |
| title_short | Left Prefrontal Activity Reflects the Ability of Vicarious Fear Learning: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study |
| title_sort | left prefrontal activity reflects the ability of vicarious fear learning a functional near infrared spectroscopy study |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/652542 |
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