Catuzzi Jennifer E, Beck Kevin D
Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory, VA New Jersey Heath Care System, East Orange, NJ 07018, USA; Rutgers-Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Science, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory, VA New Jersey Heath Care System, East Orange, NJ 07018, USA; Rutgers-Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Science, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07103, USA; Stress and Motivated Behavior Institute (SMBI), Department of Neurology and Neurosciences, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
Exp Neurol. 2014 Sep;259:75-80. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2014.01.023. Epub 2014 Feb 8.
Females are twice as likely to develop an anxiety disorder compared to males, and thus, are believed to possess an innate vulnerability that increases their susceptibility to develop an anxiety disorder. However, studies using aversive learning paradigms to model anxiety disorders in humans and animals have revealed contradictory results. While females exhibit the ability to rapidly acquire stimulus-response associations, which may result from a greater attentional bias towards threat, females are also capable to readily extinguish these associations. Thus, there is little evidence to suggest that the female sex represents a vulnerability factor of anxiety, per se. However, if females are to possess a second vulnerability factor that increases the inflexibility of stimulus-response associations, then an anxiety disorder may be more likely to develop. Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a vulnerability factor associated with the formation of inflexible stimulus-response associations. In this "two hit" model of anxiety vulnerability, females possessing a BI temperament will rapidly acquire stimulus-response associations that are resistant to extinction, resulting in the development of an anxiety disorder. In this review we explore evidence for a "two-hit" hypothesis underlying anxiety vulnerability in females. We explore the literature for evidence of a sex difference in attentional bias towards threat that may lead to the facilitated acquisition of stimulus-response associations in females. We also provide evidence that BI is associated with inflexible stimulus-response association formation. We conclude with data generated from our laboratory that highlights the additive effect of the female sex and behavioral inhibition vulnerabilities using a model behavior for anxiety disorder-susceptibility, active avoidance.
与男性相比，女性患焦虑症的可能性是男性的两倍，因此，人们认为女性具有一种先天的易感性，这增加了她们患焦虑症的易感性。然而，使用厌恶学习范式在人类和动物中模拟焦虑症的研究得出了相互矛盾的结果。虽然女性表现出能够快速获得刺激-反应关联的能力，这可能是由于对威胁有更大的注意偏向，但女性也能够轻易消除这些关联。因此，几乎没有证据表明女性本身就是焦虑的一个易感性因素。然而，如果女性拥有第二个增加刺激-反应关联僵化性的易感性因素，那么患焦虑症的可能性可能会更高。行为抑制（BI）是一种与形成僵化的刺激-反应关联相关的易感性因素。在这种焦虑易感性的“两次打击”模型中，具有BI气质的女性将迅速获得对消退有抵抗力的刺激-反应关联，从而导致焦虑症的发展。在这篇综述中，我们探讨了女性焦虑易感性背后“两次打击”假说的证据。我们在文献中寻找对威胁的注意偏向存在性别差异的证据，这种差异可能导致女性更容易获得刺激-反应关联。我们还提供证据表明BI与僵化的刺激-反应关联形成有关。我们以我们实验室生成的数据作为结论，这些数据使用焦虑症易感性的模型行为——主动回避，突出了女性性别和行为抑制易感性的累加效应。
