Gender difference in retrieval-extinction of conditioned fear memory

Abstract

successfully suppressed the spontaneous fear recovery. Nevertheless, there was a significant gender difference in the reinstatement test, in which men showed increased skin conductance responses (SCR), whereas women did not show any increased SCR. Besides, there were gender differences in the spontaneous fear recovery and reinstatement test of the standard extinction paradigm. After training by this paradigm, women showed increased SCR in spontaneously fear recovery and a tendency to fear generalization. In contrast, men showed suppressed spontaneous fear recovery but showed increased SCR in the reinstatement test. Our study proved a gender difference in the extinction effect of the retrieval-extinction paradigm (women showed the best extinction effect) and verified that the extinction effect of the retrieval-extinction paradigm was better than that of the standard extinction paradigm. From the results, we could demonstrate that the retrieval-extinction paradigm is an effective intervention method, especially for women. It will be beneficial to further verify evidence about the effectiveness of the retrieval-extinction paradigm and clarify its object and scope in clinical applications. Our study suggests that the retrieval-extinction paradigm in clinical transformation needs to provide more personalized treatment plans for male and female patients, thus improving clinical applicability and treatment effectiveness.