Fear-conditioned respiration and its association to cardiac reactivity

This study aimed to investigate ventilatory correlates of conditioned fear responses. Respiratory, end-tidal carbon dioxide pressure (PetCO2) and heart rate changes were studied in a differential fear-conditioning paradigm. Forty-two participants viewed pictures of faces. One picture (CS+) was followed by a human scream (US) during the acquisition phase, but not in a subsequent extinction phase. Conditioning of PetCO2 (decrease), respiratory cycle time (decrease) and inspiratory duty time (increase) was established and subsequently extinguished. When participants were clustered according to their conditioned PetCO2 responses during acquisition, only a group showing a conditioned decrease in PetCO2 showed also a differential cardiac acceleration, a decrease in expiratory duration and an increase in inspiratory duty time in response to the CS+. These results suggest that preparation for defensive action is characterized by a tendency towards hyperventilation and cardiac acceleration.