University of Iowa.
Neuropsychology. 2018 Jan;32(1):1-17. doi: 10.1037/neu0000384. Epub 2017 Aug 31.
Fear generalization, the generalization of fear to innocuous stimuli, is a characteristic component of pathological anxiety. Neural models of fear generalization suggest the involvement of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, conflicting empirical findings complicate our understanding of the role of the mPFC in pathological anxiety. To address important unanswered questions in this area, a detailed review and synthesis of results from human and nonhuman animal investigations of conditioned fear generalization was conducted.
Empirical articles were identified through March 2017 and selected if they used fear conditioning, measured fear generalization, and included a measure of activity in the mPFC or manipulation of mPFC functioning.
In human cued fear conditioning, the ventral mPFC plays an important role in the inhibition of fear generalization, whereas dorsal mPFC is important for the activation of generalized fear. This pattern remains to be further investigated in nonhuman animal models. Nonhuman animal research suggests an interaction between the neural correlates of contextual fear generalization and timing, such that the mPFC appears to increase fear generalization at remote time points and reduce generalization at recent time points following acquisition.
The literature suggests a key role for the mPFC in fear generalization, but empirical details vary depending on specific regions within the mPFC, the animal model used, and the timing of the generalization test. Further research is needed to elucidate the role of the mPFC in fear generalization, which could in turn facilitate more effective pharmacological interventions for pathological anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record
恐惧泛化是指对无害刺激产生恐惧，是病理性焦虑的一个特征组成部分。恐惧泛化的神经模型表明内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）的参与。然而，相互矛盾的实证发现使我们对 mPFC 在病理性焦虑中的作用的理解变得复杂。为了解决该领域尚未解决的重要问题，对人类和非人类动物条件性恐惧泛化研究的结果进行了详细的回顾和综合。
通过 2017 年 3 月确定了实证文章，并选择了使用恐惧条件作用、测量恐惧泛化以及包括 mPFC 活动测量或 mPFC 功能操作的文章。
在人类线索性恐惧条件作用中，腹侧 mPFC 在抑制恐惧泛化中起着重要作用，而背侧 mPFC 对于泛化恐惧的激活很重要。这种模式在非人类动物模型中仍需进一步研究。非人类动物研究表明，上下文恐惧泛化和时间的神经相关物之间存在相互作用，即 mPFC 似乎在获得后远程时间点增加恐惧泛化，并在最近时间点减少泛化。
文献表明 mPFC 在恐惧泛化中起着关键作用，但具体取决于 mPFC 内的特定区域、使用的动物模型以及泛化测试的时间，实证细节有所不同。需要进一步的研究来阐明 mPFC 在恐惧泛化中的作用，这反过来又可以促进对病理性焦虑更有效的药物干预。
