Freezing (%)
Proportion of time spent immobile — primary fear index
ConductVision · Behavioral Analysis
Fear Conditioning
Precision measurement of associative learning through contextual and cued freezing.
RodentFear LearningAuto Export
ConductVision / Fear Conditioning
Recording / Trial 3subject tracked
Freeze Time68%
Freeze Bouts12
Motion Index1.4au
Key Parameters
Metrics automatically extracted by ConductVision.
Contextual Freezing
Freezing in the training context — hippocampus-dependent
Cued Freezing
Freezing to the auditory CS in a novel context
Pre-CS Freezing
Baseline freezing before conditioned stimulus onset
Extinction Rate
Decline in freezing across repeated unreinforced exposures
Freezing Latency
Time from stimulus onset to first freezing episode
+ 7 more parameters trackedShow allHide
Motion Index
Continuous activity level across the session
Post-Shock Freezing
Immediate immobility following foot shock delivery
Freezing Bout Duration
Mean length of individual freezing episodes
Freezing Bout Count
Number of discrete freezing episodes per epoch
Inter-Trial Activity
Locomotion between CS presentations
Discrimination Index
Freezing ratio between danger and safety contexts
Darting
Active escape responses — rapid forward movement bouts
What is Fear Conditioning?
Fear Conditioning evaluates Pavlovian associative learning by pairing a neutral stimulus (tone CS) and/or training context with a mild foot shock. Freezing behavior to the context or tone is measured as a direct readout of fear memory, enabling dissociation of hippocampus-dependent and amygdala-dependent memory systems.
ConductVision automates freezing detection with frame-by-frame motion analysis, supporting trace, delay, and backward conditioning protocols. The gold-standard assay for studying PTSD, anxiety disorders, extinction learning, and memory consolidation.
Protocol Parameters
| Parameter | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Chamber Size | Conditioning chamber dimensions | 30 × 25 × 25 cm |
| Shock Intensity | Foot shock current | 0.5–0.75 mA (mouse) / 1.0 mA (rat) |
| Shock Duration | Duration of each foot shock | 1–2 s |
| CS Tone Frequency | Auditory conditioned stimulus | 2800 Hz, 85 dB |
| CS Duration | Length of tone presentation | 20–30 s |
| CS-US Pairings | Number of tone-shock pairings during training | 3 |
| ITI | Inter-trial interval between CS-US pairings | 60–90 s |
| Contextual Test | Return to training context without CS or US | 5 min, 24 h post-training |
| Cued Test | CS presentation in altered context | 3 min baseline + 3 min CS |
| Freezing Threshold | Movement below threshold scored as freezing | < 1% pixel change / 0.5 s |
| Extinction Sessions | Repeated CS-alone presentations | 5–10 tones per session |
Interpreting Results
↑
Increased Contextual Freezing
Enhanced hippocampal-dependent fear memory — heightened context-shock association, seen in PTSD models and stress-enhanced fear learning.
↓
Decreased Contextual Freezing
Impaired hippocampal fear memory — reduced by hippocampal lesions, scopolamine, and in APP/PS1 Alzheimer's models.
↑
Elevated Cued Freezing
Strong amygdala-dependent tone-shock association — enhanced in anxiety-prone strains and after noradrenergic activation.
↓
Impaired Extinction
Failure to suppress conditioned fear — extinction deficit is a hallmark of PTSD models, responsive to D-cycloserine augmentation.
↑
Generalized Freezing
High pre-CS freezing in novel context — fear generalization indicating overgeneralized threat processing.
↓
Reduced Post-Shock Freezing
Immediate fear response deficit — impaired US processing seen with analgesics or shock sensitivity differences.
Research Applications
PTSD & Anxiety Disorders
- Fear extinction therapy — D-cycloserine, MDMA, and psilocybin augmentation of extinction learning
- Stress-enhanced fear — single prolonged stress and predator stress sensitization models
- Fear generalization — overgeneralized threat responding as a PTSD biomarker
Memory Consolidation
- Protein synthesis-dependent consolidation — anisomycin and cycloheximide within consolidation windows
- Reconsolidation — post-retrieval memory destabilization and updating
- Systems consolidation — hippocampal to cortical memory transfer over weeks
Circuit & Genetic Dissection
- Optogenetic manipulation — BLA, CeA, mPFC, and hippocampal CA1 circuit contributions
- Transgenic models — CREB overexpression, BDNF Val66Met, and GluN2B mutants
- Engram research — memory trace labeling and reactivation in dentate gyrus
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