# Acquisition, extinction, and recall of attention biases to threat: Computational modeling and multimodal brain imaging

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2022 · $450,404

## Abstract

Project Summary
Classical aversive conditioning is a well-established laboratory model for studying acquisition and extinction of
defensive responses. In experimental animals, as well as in humans, research to date has been mainly focused
on the role of limbic structures (e.g., the amygdala) in these responses. Recent evidence has begun to stress
the important contribution by the brain’s sensory and attention control systems in maintaining the neural
representations of conditioned responses and in facilitating their extinction. The proposed research breaks new
ground by combining novel neuroimaging techniques with advanced computational methods to examine the
brain’s visual and attention processes underlying fear acquisition and extinction in humans. Major advances
will be made along three specific aims. In Aim 1, we characterize the brain network dynamics of visuocortical
threat bias formation, extinction, and recall in a two-day learning paradigm. In Aim 2, we establish and test a
computational model of threat bias generalization. In Aim 3, we examine the relation between individual
differences in generalization and recall of conditioned visuocortical threat biases and individual differences in
heightened autonomic reactivity to conditioned threat, a potential biomarker for assessing the predisposition to
developing the disorders of fear and anxiety. It is expected that accomplishing these research aims will address
two NIMH strategic priorities: defining the circuitry and brain networks underlying complex behaviors (Objective
1) and identifying and validating new targets for treatment that are derived from the understanding of disease
mechanisms (Objective 3). It is further expected that this project will enable a paradigm shift in research on
dysfunctional attention to threat from one that focuses primarily on limbic-prefrontal circuits to one that
emphasizes the interactions among sensory, attention, executive control and limbic systems.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10459607
- **Project number:** 5R01MH125615-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** MINGZHOU DING
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $450,404
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-08-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10459607

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10459607, Acquisition, extinction, and recall of attention biases to threat: Computational modeling and multimodal brain imaging (5R01MH125615-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10459607. Licensed CC0.

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