Abstract: Safety learning refers to the adaptive mechanism by which individuals recognize safety signals (cues predicting the absence of threat) to inhibit fear. Existing studies have shown that impairments in safety learning constitute a core pathological mechanism underlying anxiety and related disorders. However, current theoretical research on the neural mechanisms of safety learning cannot fully account for the association between safety learning deficits and anxiety disorders. Therefore, based on existing findings on safety learning, we propose a neural framework of safety learning consisting of three stages—perceptual evaluation, safety acquisition, and behavioral expression—to explain abnormalities observed in individuals with anxiety and related disorders, such as reduced efficiency in safety acquisition and difficulty using safety signals to inhibit fear. Future research may refine experimental paradigms to test the feasibility of this three-stage neural framework and further explore therapeutic targets within different stages of safety learning, thereby promoting the clinical translation of safety learning research.

Key words: safety learning, anxiety, neural mechanisms