University of Iowa Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, W285 GH, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2010 Dec;5(4):424-31. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsq009. Epub 2010 Feb 11.
Research into the neural underpinnings of fear and fear-related pathology has highlighted the role of the amygdala. For instance, bilateral damage to the amygdaloid complex is associated with decreased appreciation of danger and recognition of fear in humans, whereas enlarged amygdala volume is associated with internalizing syndromes. It is unknown whether amygdala volume and fearfulness are related in the absence of pathology. We examined the correlation between normal fearfulness and amygdala morphology in 116 healthy children and adolescents (60 boys, 56 girls, age 7-17 years). Fearfulness was measured using the parent ratings on the Pediatric Behavior Scale and amygdala volumes were determined by manual tracing. We found a positive correlation between right amygdala volume in girls (r = 0.29). This relationship was more robust and present bilaterally when analyses were limited to girls with a positive nuclear family history of depression (for left r = 0.63; for right r = 0.58). In boys there was no significant relationship which may suggest that biological mechanisms differ between sexes. Given the role of enlarged amygdala volume in pathology, these findings may indicate that variation in amygdala morphology marks susceptibility to internalizing disorders.
对恐惧及其相关病理的神经基础的研究强调了杏仁核的作用。例如，双侧杏仁核复合体损伤与人类对危险的感知和恐惧识别能力下降有关，而杏仁核体积增大与内化综合征有关。在没有病理的情况下，杏仁核体积和恐惧之间是否存在关联尚不清楚。我们在 116 名健康儿童和青少年（60 名男孩，56 名女孩，年龄 7-17 岁）中检查了正常恐惧与杏仁核形态之间的相关性。使用父母对儿科行为量表的评分来衡量恐惧程度，通过手动追踪来确定杏仁核体积。我们发现女孩右侧杏仁核体积与恐惧之间存在正相关（r = 0.29）。当分析仅限于具有阳性核家族抑郁史的女孩时，这种关系更加显著且存在于双侧（左侧 r = 0.63；右侧 r = 0.58）。在男孩中，没有显著的相关性，这可能表明性别之间的生物学机制不同。鉴于杏仁核体积增大在病理学中的作用，这些发现可能表明杏仁核形态的变化标志着易患内化障碍。
