Human fear conditioning is hot! Our vibrant field of science is attracting more and more researchers each year, with many of the prominent labs located in the old continent. We organize this 15th edition of the European Meeting on Human Fear Conditioning to celebrate our collegial network, and to learn about new successes and failures in our beloved field of research. Indeed, we are not looking for picture-perfect, instagrammable presentations of mind-blowing study results. We honor fair communication of failed replications, interpretational ambiguities, less-than-optimal design choices, and open questions. This is how we can learn most from each other and shape the future of our field through in-depth discussions.

Welcome to the green oasis that is Heeze. Welcome to EMHFC 2024!

This year’s keynote presenter is prof. em. Omer Van den Bergh, a pioneer of human conditioning research in Belgium. He is widely known for investigating how conditioning mechanisms influence somatic sensations and symptoms, including conditioning with CO₂-enriched air to mimic hyperventilation and panic. Using a predictive-processing framework, his later work focuses on understanding how symptoms are processed by the brain in interaction with individual difference variables such as threat sensitivity, and how this impacts the relationship with signals from the peripheral body. Omer’s keynote will set the stage for discussing the role of interoception in fear conditioning and anxiety disorders during EMHFC 2024.

 

More details can be found at EMHFC 2024

See you in May 6-8 (2024) in Heeze, the Netherlands.

 

The organizing committee