Department of Psychology, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Maryland Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Mar;146:105039. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105039. Epub 2023 Jan 10.
We suggest that to understand complex behaviors associated with fear and anxiety, we need to understand brain processes at the collective, network level. But what should be the type and spatial scale of the targeted circuits/networks? Not only are multi-region interactions essential-including complex reciprocal interactions, loops, and other types of arrangement-but it is profitable to characterize circuits spanning the entire neuroaxis. In particular, it is productive to conceptualize the circuits contributing to fear/anxiety as embedded into large-scale connectional systems. We discuss circuits involving the basolateral amygdala that contribute to aversive conditioning and fear extinction. In addition, we highlight the importance of the extended amygdala (central nucleus of the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis) cortical-subcortical loop, which allows large swaths of cortex and subcortex to influence fear and anxiety. In this manner, fear/anxiety can be understood not only based on traditional "descending" mechanisms involving the hypothalamus and brainstem, but in terms of a considerably broader reentrant organization.
我们认为，要理解与恐惧和焦虑相关的复杂行为，我们需要了解大脑在集体、网络层面的运作过程。但我们应该针对哪种类型和空间尺度的回路/网络呢？不仅多区域相互作用是必不可少的，包括复杂的相互作用、回路和其他类型的排列，而且对跨越整个神经轴的回路进行特征描述是有益的。特别是，将参与恐惧/焦虑的回路概念化为嵌入到大规模连接系统中的回路是富有成效的。我们讨论了涉及外侧杏仁核的回路，这些回路有助于厌恶条件反射和恐惧消退。此外，我们强调了扩展杏仁核（杏仁核中央核和终纹床核）皮质-皮质下回路的重要性，它允许大片的皮质和皮质下区域影响恐惧和焦虑。通过这种方式，不仅可以基于涉及下丘脑和脑干的传统“下行”机制来理解恐惧/焦虑，还可以从更广泛的再入组织的角度来理解恐惧/焦虑。
