Study protocol of an investigation of attention and prediction error as mechanisms of action for latent inhibition of dental fear in humans

BMC Psychology

Study Protocol

Michael Nedley¹  Natalie Turner¹  Christine A. Rabinak²  Hilary A. Marusak³  Laura D. Seligman⁴  Ben Colagiuri⁵  Kelly S. Clemens⁶  Lauren Kramer⁶  Andrew L. Geers⁶  Keenan A. Pituch⁷ 

[1] Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Toledo, OH, USA;Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA;Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA;Department of Psychological Science, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 78539, Edinburg, TX, USA;Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA;Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA;

关键词: Dental phobia;    Latent inhibition;    Fear learning;    Pre-exposure;    Pain sensitivity;    Virtual reality;    Eye tracking;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40359-023-01054-0

 received in 2022-12-22, accepted in 2023-01-17,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEvidence suggests that dental anxiety and phobia are frequently the result of direct associative fear conditioning but that pre-exposure to dental stimuli prior to conditioning results in latent inhibition of fear learning. The mechanisms underlying the pre-exposure effect in humans, however, are poorly understood. Moreover, pain sensitivity has been linked to dental fear conditioning in correlational investigations and theory suggests it may moderate the latent inhibition effect, but this hypothesis has not been directly tested. These gaps in our understanding are a barrier to the development of evidence-based dental phobia prevention efforts.MethodsHealthy volunteers between the ages of 6 and 35 years will be enrolled across two sites. Participants will complete a conditioning task in a novel virtual reality environment, allowing for control over pre-exposure and the examination of behaviour. A dental startle (a brief, pressurized puff of air to a tooth) will serve as the unconditioned stimulus. Using a within-subjects experimental design, participants will experience a pre-exposed to-be conditioned stimulus, a non-pre-exposed to-be conditioned stimulus, and a neutral control stimulus. Two hypothesized mechanisms, changes in prediction errors and attention, are expected to mediate the association between stimulus condition and fear acquisition, recall, and retention. To ascertain the involvement of pain sensitivity, this construct will be measured through self-report and the cold pressor task.DiscussionDental phobia negatively affects the dental health and overall health of individuals. This study aims to determine the mechanisms through which pre-exposure retards conditioned dental fear acquisition, recall, and retention. A randomized control trial will be used to identify these mechanisms so that they can be precisely targeted and maximally engaged in preventative efforts.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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