Table 3.

Human studies investigating the effect of post-retrieval extinction on fear-related memories.

TYPE OF MEMORY	REF.	CONDITIONING	DEPENDENT VARIABLE	RETRIEVAL-break-EXTINCTION			RESULTS
				RET	Break	EXT	Reinstatement	Spontaneous Recovery	Reconditioning
Fear Memory	Schiller et al. 2010	10CSa-No US 10CSb-No US 6Csa-US (Intermixed) CS: yellow or blue squares US: electric shock (200ms,50 pulse/s)	Skin conductance	1CSa	10min	10CSa+11CSb	Decrease	Decrease	–
				1CSa	6h	10CSa+11CSb	N.E.	N.E.	–
				No	No	11CSa+11CSb	N.E.	N.E.	–
	Soeter & Kindt, 2011	1(CSa-No US) 1(CSb-No US) 5(CSc-NoUS) 5(CSa-US) 5(CSb-No US) (Intermixed) CSa and CS b: picture of gun or spider CSc: picture of mug US: electric shock defined as uncomfortable by participant	Eye blink startle reflex	1CSa (or CSb)	10min	9CSa(or CSb)+10CSb(or CSa)+10CSc	N.E.	Decrease	N.E.
			Skin conductance				N.E.	N.E.	N.E
			Distress rating				N.E.	N.E.	N.E
	Kindt & Soeter, 2011	8 (CSa-US) 8(CSb-No US) CSa: spider’s picture CSb: neutral picture	Eye blink startle reflex	1CSa	10min	12CSa+12CSb	N.E.	N.E.	N.E.
			Skin conductance				N.E.	N.E.	N.E.
			Distress rating				N.E.	N.E.	N.E.
Drug (heroin) memory	Xue et al, 2012	—	Craving (VAS)	5min Neutral cues	10min	60min heroin-cues	–	N.E.	–
				5min Heroin cues	10min	60min heroin-cues	–	Decrease	–
				5min Heroin cues	6h	60min heroin-cues	–	N.E.	–
			Blood pressure	5min Neutral cues	10min	60min heroin-cues	–	N.E.	–
				5min Heroin cues	10min	60min heroin-cues	–	Decrease	–
				5min Heroin cues	6h	60min heroin-cues	–	N.E.	–
			Heart rate	5min Neutral cues	10min	60min heroin-cues	–	N.E.	–
				5min Heroin cues	10min	60min heroin-cues	–	N.E.	–
				5min Heroin cues	6h	60min heroin-cues	–	N.E.	–

Abbreviations: US (unconditioned stimulus); CS (conditioned stimulus); N.E. (no effect); VAS (visual analogue scale)