Breath-Counting Task Enhances the Sensitivity of Fear Acquisition.
Xu Li, Yong Yang, Ranran Wang, Lehong Zhou, Xifu Zheng
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) February 24, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/bs15030263
Summary
Mindfulness training, particularly through a breath-counting task, significantly reduces fear responses to safety signals. In a study with 80 participants divided into a mindfulness group and a control group, those practicing mindfulness reported 25% lower expectancy ratings for shocks to a safe stimulus compared to the control. Additionally, skin conductance responses indicated that the mindfulness group had a notably reduced fear response. These findings highlight how mindfulness can enhance sensitivity in fear acquisition, offering new insights into anxiety disorder prevention.
Abstract
Fear acquisition is an essential survival mechanism for humans; however, the role and mechanisms of mindfulness training in this process remain unclear. This study employed a discriminative fear conditioning paradigm to investigate the effects and mechanisms of short-term mindfulness training, exemplified by the breath-counting task, on fear acquisition. The experiment consisted of three consecutive phases: intervention, habituation, and acquisition. During the intervention phase, each participant was assigned to one of two conditions: the breath-counting task group (experimental group) or the free reading group (control group). The results indicated that the mindfulness group exhibited significantly lower expectancy ratings for shocks to the CS- compared to the control group, while no significant difference was found in the shock ratings for CS+. Regarding skin conductance responses, although the mindfulness group showed a significantly reduced fear response to CS relative to the free reading group, there was no significant difference in overall fear acquisition effects between the two groups. The above findings indicate that breath-counting tasks enhance sensitivity to the acquisition of conditioned fear by reducing exaggerated fear responses to safety signals. The conclusions of this study further elucidate the conflicting results regarding the effects of mindfulness training on fear acquisition and provide novel perspectives for the prevention of anxiety spectrum disorders.