Can we predict from neural information the individual efficacy of fear learning, its extinction, and its renewal in humans? The answer is: Yes!

Can we predict from neural information the individual efficacy of fear learning, its extinction, and its renewal in humans? The answer is: Yes! This was shown by members of SFB 1280 that used a large dataset of over 500 participants across a multitude of paradigms. They showed that functional connectivity within a core neural network predicts faster acquisition of fear, effective connectivity predicts better extinction learning, while structural effectivity predicts the extent of renewal. Hey, this sounds like successful predictive neuroscience!

Gomes, C.A., Bach, D., Razi, A., Batsikadze, G., Elsenbruch, S., Engler, H., Ernst, T., Fellner, M.C., Fraenz, C., Genç, E., Hagedorn, B., Klass, A., Labrenz, F., Lissek, S., Merz, C.J., Metzen, D., Nostadt, A., Pawlik, R.J., Schneider, J.E., Thieme, A., Wolf, O.T., Güntürkün, O., Quick, H., Kumsta, R., Timmann, D., Spisak, T., Axmacher, N., Predicting individual differences of fear and cognitive learning and extinction, Nature Communication, 2026, 17: 3780.