Lang P J, Davis M, Ohman A
Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, P.O. Box 100165, HSC, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2000 Dec;61(3):137-59. doi: 10.1016/s0165-0327(00)00343-8.
The aim of this paper is to explicate what is special about emotional information processing, emphasizing the neural foundations that underlie the experience and expression of fear. A functional, anatomical model of defense behavior in animals is presented and applications are described in cognitive and physiological studies of human affect. It is proposed that unpleasant emotions depend on the activation of an evolutionarily primitive subcortical circuit, including the amygdala and the neural structures to which it projects. This motivational system mediates specific autonomic (e.g., heart rate change) and somatic reflexes (e.g., startle change) that originally promoted survival in dangerous conditions. These same response patterns are illustrated in humans, as they process objective, memorial, and media stimuli. Furthermore, it is shown how variations in the neural circuit and its outputs may separately characterize cue-specific fear (as in specific phobia) and more generalized anxiety. Finally, again emphasizing links between the animal and human data, we focus on special, attentional features of emotional processing: The automaticity of fear reactions, hyper-reactivity to minimal threat-cues, and evidence that the physiological responses in fear may be independent of slower, language-based appraisal processes.
本文旨在阐释情绪信息处理的独特之处，着重强调恐惧体验和表达背后的神经基础。文中呈现了动物防御行为的功能解剖模型，并描述了其在人类情感认知和生理学研究中的应用。研究提出，不愉快情绪依赖于一个进化上原始的皮层下回路的激活，该回路包括杏仁核及其投射的神经结构。这个动机系统介导特定的自主神经反应（如心率变化）和躯体反射（如惊跳变化），这些反应最初在危险情况下促进生存。在人类处理客观、记忆和媒体刺激时，也会出现同样的反应模式。此外，还展示了神经回路及其输出的变化如何分别表征线索特异性恐惧（如在特定恐惧症中）和更广泛的焦虑。最后，再次强调动物和人类数据之间的联系，我们关注情绪处理的特殊注意特征：恐惧反应的自动性、对最小威胁线索的过度反应，以及恐惧中的生理反应可能独立于较慢的基于语言的评估过程的证据。
