Breath-Counting Task Enhances the Sensitivity of Fear Acquisition
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. Materials
2.3. Measures
2.3.1. US-Expectancy Ratings
2.3.2. Skin Conductance Responses
2.4. Procedure
2.5. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Habituation
3.2. Acquisition
3.2.1. US-Expectancy Ratings
3.2.2. Skin Conductance Responses
4. Discussion
4.1. BCT Increases Sensitivity to Conditioned Fear Acquisition
4.2. BCT Enhances Individuals’ Ability to Differentiate Safety Signals
4.3. The Enhancement Effect of BCT on Fear Acquisition Shows a Dissociation Between Physiological and Subjective Indicators
4.4. Significance and Prospects
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
BCT | Breath-counting task |
SCRs | Skin conductance responses |
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Group | SAI | TAI | MAAS | Measures | Habituation | Acquisition | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CS− | CS+ | CS− | CS+ | |||||
BCT | 1.96 (0.47) | 2.14 (0.38) | 3.02 (0.80) | Shock ratings | - | - | 1.63 (0.65) | 3.79 (0.84) |
SCRs | 0.38 (0.26) | 0.34 (0.29) | 0.31 (0.18) | 0.78 (0.39) | ||||
Control | 1.96 (0.45) | 2.20 (0.43) | 3.00 (0.71) | Shock ratings | - | - | 2.36 (0.96) | 3.74 (0.93) |
SCRs | 0.45 (0.34) | 0.44 (0.32) | 0.52 (0.36) | 1.00 (0.64) |
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Li, X.; Yang, Y.; Wang, R.; Zhou, L.; Zheng, X. Breath-Counting Task Enhances the Sensitivity of Fear Acquisition. Behav. Sci. 2025, 15, 263. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15030263
Li X, Yang Y, Wang R, Zhou L, Zheng X. Breath-Counting Task Enhances the Sensitivity of Fear Acquisition. Behavioral Sciences. 2025; 15(3):263. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15030263
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi, Xu, Yong Yang, Ranran Wang, Lehong Zhou, and Xifu Zheng. 2025. "Breath-Counting Task Enhances the Sensitivity of Fear Acquisition" Behavioral Sciences 15, no. 3: 263. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15030263
APA StyleLi, X., Yang, Y., Wang, R., Zhou, L., & Zheng, X. (2025). Breath-Counting Task Enhances the Sensitivity of Fear Acquisition. Behavioral Sciences, 15(3), 263. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15030263