Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2022 Sep;23(9):568-580. doi: 10.1038/s41583-022-00608-2. Epub 2022 Jun 27.
Animals have sophisticated mechanisms for coping with danger. Freezing is a unique state that, upon threat detection, allows evidence to be gathered, response possibilities to be previsioned and preparations to be made for worst-case fight or flight. We propose that - rather than reflecting a passive fear state - the particular somatic and cognitive characteristics of freezing help to conceal overt responses, while optimizing sensory processing and action preparation. Critical for these functions are the neurotransmitters noradrenaline and acetylcholine, which modulate neural information processing and also control the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. However, the interactions between autonomic systems and the brain during freezing, and the way in which they jointly coordinate responses, remain incompletely explored. We review the joint actions of these systems and offer a novel computational framework to describe their temporally harmonized integration. This reconceptualization of freezing has implications for its role in decision-making under threat and for psychopathology.
动物具有复杂的机制来应对危险。冻结是一种独特的状态，在检测到威胁时，它允许收集证据，预测可能的反应，并为最坏的战斗或逃跑做好准备。我们提出，冻结的特殊躯体和认知特征不是反映被动的恐惧状态，而是有助于隐藏明显的反应，同时优化感官处理和动作准备。对于这些功能至关重要的是神经递质去甲肾上腺素和乙酰胆碱，它们调节神经信息处理，也控制自主神经系统的交感和副交感分支。然而，在冻结期间自主系统和大脑之间的相互作用，以及它们共同协调反应的方式，仍然没有得到充分探索。我们回顾了这些系统的联合作用，并提供了一个新的计算框架来描述它们在时间上的协调整合。这种对冻结的重新概念化对其在威胁下的决策中的作用以及对精神病理学的影响具有重要意义。
