Extinction learning is a primary means by which conditioned associations to threats are controlled and is a model system for emotion dysregulation in anxiety disorders. Recent work has called for new approaches to track extinction-related changes in conditioned stimulus (CS) representations. We applied a multivariate analysis to previously -collected functional magnetic resonance imaging data on extinction learning, in which healthy young adult participants (N = 43; 21 males, 22 females) encountered dynamic snake and spider CSs while passively navigating 3D virtual environments. We used representational similarity analysis to compare voxel-wise activation t-statistic maps for the shock-reinforced CS (CS+) from the late phase of fear acquisition to the early and late phases of extinction learning within subjects. These patterns became more dissimilar from early to late extinction in a priori regions of interest: subgenual and dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus, amygdala and hippocampus. A whole-brain searchlight analysis revealed similar findings in the insula, mid-cingulate cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, somatosensory cortex, cerebellum, and visual cortex. High state anxiety attenuated extinction-related changes to the CS+ patterning in the amygdala, which suggests an enduring threat representation. None of these effects generalized to an unreinforced control cue, nor were they evident in traditional univariate analyses. Our approach extends previous neuroimaging work by emphasizing how evoked neural patterns change from late acquisition through phases of extinction learning, including those in brain regions not traditionally implicated in animal models. Finally, the findings provide additional support for a role of the amygdala in anxiety-related persistence of conditioned fears.

灭绝学习是控制与威胁的条件关联的主要手段，并且是焦虑症情绪失调的模型系统。最近的工作要求采用新方法来跟踪条件刺激 (CS) 表征中与灭绝相关的变化。我们对先前收集的关于灭绝学习的功能磁共振成像数据应用了多变量分析，其中健康的年轻成人参与者（N = 43；21 名男性，22 名女性）在被动导航 3D 虚拟环境时遇到动态蛇和蜘蛛 CS。我们使用表征相似性分析来比较从恐惧获得的后期阶段到受试者内灭绝学习的早期和晚期阶段的冲击强化 CS (CS+) 的体素激活 t 统计图。先验感兴趣的区域：膝下和背侧前扣带回、杏仁核和海马体。全脑探照灯分析揭示了在岛叶、中扣带回皮层、腹外侧前额叶皮层、躯体感觉皮层、小脑和视觉皮层中的类似发现。高度状态焦虑减弱了杏仁核中 CS+ 模式与灭绝相关的变化，这表明一种持久的威胁表征。这些影响都没有推广到未强化的控制线索，在传统的单变量分析中也不明显。我们的方法通过强调诱发神经模式如何从晚期习得到灭绝学习阶段发生变化，包括那些传统上不涉及动物模型的大脑区域，从而扩展了以前的神经成像工作。最后，