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Leveraging neural decoding to uncover biases in latent cause inference during fear extinction

Award Number: F32MH144876
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 11/01/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 10/31/2027

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Leveraging neural decoding to uncover biases in latent cause inference during fear extinction - Leveraging neural decoding to uncover biases in latent cause inference during fear extinction A core feature of anxiety disorders is persistent fear even after the threat has dissipated. Here, we propose to leverage the computational framework of latent cause inference—which posits that people differ in the extent to which they assign observed events to distinct underlying contexts (or causes)—to uncover separable pathways to a sustained threat response. While previous evidence suggests that higher anxiety is related to inferring two separable latent causes—one safe and one threatening—and preferentially reinstating the threatening one, this partitioning is at odds with research linking pathological anxiety to the over-generalization of threat across contexts. Consistent with the generalization account, the sustained fear response could instead arise from inferring a single latent cause that combines both safe and threatening cues and is persistently linked to threat. Importantly, the contents of this inferred latent cause would be different from those of a single latent cause in which the association between a given stimulus and threat has been successfully overridden through extinction. While previous work has assessed whether extinction behavior is better described by models that assume one or more latent causes, it does not provide information about the observations these causes contain. Thus, we do not yet know whether a persistent threat response can indeed be explained by the generalization of threat from acquisition to extinction. Here, we propose to leverage well-established markers of fear conditioning (skin conductance response and pupillometry) in combination with neural decoding from OPM-MEG to decode the contents of the inferred states and identify reliable “fingerprints” of these different pathways to sustained fear after extinction. While the physiological data will serve as an implicit measure of threat response, neural decoding will allow us to detect the contents of the latent cause participants inferred, allowing us to make the crucial distinction between a generalized threat state and a learned safe state. In Aim 1, we will test whether individual differences in anxious symptomatology map onto these distinct pathways to sustained fear. We hypothesize that people high in anxious apprehension, which is linked to worry and rumination, will infer multiple causes and show return of fear due to the selective maintenance of the threatening latent cause. Conversely, we predict that people high in anxious arousal, which is characterized by sustained hypervigilance, will tend to integrate acquisition and extinction into a single latent cause that is predictive of threat. Aim 2 will examine the developmental trajectory of fear learning and extinction. We predict that while children will successfully unlearn the threat response, adolescents will infer a single latent cause associated with the aversive outcome, leading to a persistent threat response. Together, these studies will reveal meaningful heterogeneity in the mechanisms supporting sustained fear, paving the way for personalized therapeutic interventions across both symptoms and the lifespan.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $76,300 )
2026	2026	THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	1 NASSAU HALL	PRINCETON	NJ	08544	MERCER	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	4/29/2026	NEW	$76,300
														Subtotal = $76,300

Grand Total All Awards = $76,300

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Leveraging neural decoding to uncover biases in latent cause inference during fear extinction

Award Number: F32MH144876

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 11/01/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 10/31/2027

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