BACKGROUND: Exposure therapy, which is based on extinction learning, is the therapy of choice for several anxiety disorders. However, the remission rate is not optimal for adults with an anxiety...Show moreBACKGROUND: Exposure therapy, which is based on extinction learning, is the therapy of choice for several anxiety disorders. However, the remission rate is not optimal for adults with an anxiety disorder, which could be due to non-response or to the return of the original fear after exposure therapy. Persons with high levels of anxiety have more difficulties constructing and consolidating extinction memories. Stimulating the vagus nerve (tVNS) is a promising method of enhancing the process of extinction learning as shown in previous animal and human studies. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess whether participants with high levels of anxiety would benefit more from the addition of tVNS measured in US expectancy ratings and skin conductance response. METHOD: This paper is a reanalysis of the data from the study of Burger et al. (2018). In this study healthy humans participated in a prepared fear learning paradigm, spider pictures were used as conditioned stimulus. After the acquisition phase participants were randomly allocated to the tVNS condition (N=42) and to the sham condition (N=43) for the extinction phase. High- and low-scoring groups were created based on the state and trait subscales of the STAI. RESULTS: There were no differences found between the high- and low-scoring groups in the effectiveness of tVNS, although the low state group in the tVNS condition showed lower US expectancy ratings for the CS- trials. CONCLUSION: This distinct study does not provide conclusive evidence to support the direction of studying tVNS in a clinical sample.Show less
