Kryklywy James H, Lu Amy, Roberts Kevin H, Rowan Matt, Todd Rebecca M
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia.
eNeuro. 2022 Aug 25;9(5). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0011-22.2022.
In times of stress or danger, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) signals the or response. A canonical function of ANS activity is to globally mobilize metabolic resources, preparing the organism to respond to threat. Yet a body of research has demonstrated that, rather than displaying a homogenous pattern across the body, autonomic responses to arousing events - as measured through changes in electrodermal activity (EDA) - can differ between right and left body locations. Surprisingly, an attempt to identify a function of ANS asymmetry consistent with its metabolic role has not been investigated. In the current study, we investigated whether asymmetric autonomic responses could be induced through limb-specific aversive stimulation. Participants were given mild electric stimulation to either the left or right arm while EDA was monitored bilaterally. In a group-level analyses, an ipsilateral EDA response bias was observed, with increased EDA response in the hand adjacent to the stimulation. This effect was observable in ∼50% of individual particpants. These results demonstrate that autonomic output is more complex than canonical interpretations suggest. We suggest that, in stressful situations, autonomic outputs can prepare either the whole-body or response, or a simply a limb-localized which can effectively neutralize the threat while minimizing global resource consumption. These findings are consistent with recent theories proposing evolutionary leveraging of neural structures organized to mediate sensory responses for processing of cognitive emotional cues.The present study constitutes novel evidence for an autonomic nervous response specific to the side of the body exposed to direct threat. We identify a robust pattern of electrodermal response at the body location that directly receives aversive tactile stimulation. Thus, we demonstrate for the first time in contemporary research that the ANS is capable of location-specific outputs within single effector organs in response to small scale threat. This extends the canonical view of the role of ANS responses in stressful or dangerous stresses - that of provoking a ' response - suggesting a further role of this system: preparation of targeted limb-specific action, i.e., a
在压力或危险时期，自主神经系统（ANS）会发出战斗或逃跑反应的信号。自主神经系统活动的一个典型功能是全面调动代谢资源，使机体做好应对威胁的准备。然而，大量研究表明，通过皮肤电活动（EDA）变化来衡量的自主神经系统对唤醒事件的反应，在身体左右部位之间可能存在差异，而不是在全身呈现出均匀的模式。令人惊讶的是，尚未有人研究过确定与自主神经系统不对称性的代谢作用相一致的功能。在本研究中，我们调查了是否可以通过肢体特异性厌恶刺激来诱导不对称自主反应。在双侧监测皮肤电活动的同时，对参与者的左臂或右臂进行轻度电刺激。在组水平分析中，观察到同侧皮肤电活动反应偏差，即受刺激侧手部的皮肤电活动反应增加。约50%的个体参与者中可观察到这种效应。这些结果表明，自主神经输出比传统解释所表明的更为复杂。我们认为，在压力情境下，自主神经输出可以为全身的战斗或逃跑反应做准备，或者仅仅是为肢体局部的反应做准备，这可以在将全局资源消耗降至最低的同时有效消除威胁。这些发现与最近的理论一致，这些理论提出了对神经结构的进化利用，这些神经结构被组织起来介导感官反应以处理认知情绪线索。本研究为身体一侧暴露于直接威胁时的自主神经反应提供了新的证据。我们在直接接受厌恶触觉刺激的身体部位识别出了一种强烈的皮肤电反应模式。因此，我们在当代研究中首次证明，自主神经系统能够在单个效应器官内产生针对特定位置的输出，以应对小规模威胁。这扩展了自主神经系统反应在压力或危险应激中的作用的传统观点，即引发“战斗或逃跑”反应，表明该系统还有进一步的作用：准备有针对性的肢体特异性行动，即一种……
