Richardson Rick, Ledgerwood Lana, Cranney Jacquelyn
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
Learn Mem. 2004 Sep-Oct;11(5):510-6. doi: 10.1101/lm.78204.
Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychological disturbances in the industrialized world. Current behavioral therapy procedures for these disorders are somewhat effective, but their efficacy could be substantially improved. Because these procedures are largely based on the process of extinction, manipulations that enhance extinction may lead to improvements in treatment effectiveness. We review the evidence that D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial NMDA agonist, facilitates extinction of learned fear in rats. Although only a few studies have examined the effects of DCS on extinction of learned fear, this work suggests that this drug may have a number of potential clinical benefits. In addition, attempts at interpreting this research illustrate our limited understanding of the processes involved in extinction.
焦虑症是工业化世界中最常见的心理障碍之一。目前针对这些障碍的行为治疗方法有一定效果，但其疗效仍有很大提升空间。由于这些方法主要基于消退过程，增强消退作用的操作可能会提高治疗效果。我们回顾了相关证据，即D-环丝氨酸（DCS）作为一种部分N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸（NMDA）受体激动剂，可促进大鼠习得性恐惧的消退。尽管仅有少数研究考察了DCS对习得性恐惧消退的影响，但这些研究表明该药物可能具有许多潜在的临床益处。此外，对这项研究的解读尝试也表明我们对消退过程的理解有限。
