# PubMed- Extinguishing fear of gastrointestinal symptoms to treat functional gastrointestinal disorders.



## VSsupport (Feb 12, 2008)

[TD]
*Extinguishing fear of gastrointestinal symptoms to treat functional gastrointestinal disorders.*

Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 Jul 11;

Authors: Keefer L

Abstract
"Learned Fear of Gastrointestinal Sensations in Healthy Adults" by Ceunen and colleagues is the first study to demonstrate that fear of benign gastrointestinal (GI) sensations can be directly acquired through principles of classical conditioning. While this study was done in healthy controls and only involved esophageal sensations created from a distended balloon, one can still speculate that, in a susceptible patient population, fear conditioning to interoceptive sensations may be particularly pronounced. Of particular relevance to the concept of fear conditioning to benign gastrointestinal sensations are functional gastrointestinal disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Functional Dyspepsia, already shown to be driven by visceral anxiety and hypersensitivity. This study specifically focused on interoceptive fear conditioning, and in the second part of the experiment, they were able to reduce, but not completely extinguish, the fear. The study raises questions around whether interoceptive fear is a primary player in the development of FGIDs and whether interoceptive exposure therapy, a form of CBT that targets extinction of benign GI sensations could be useful in the treatment setting.

PMID: 27417576 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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