Davis M, Rainnie D, Cassell M
Dept of Psychiatry, Yale University, Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven 06508.
Trends Neurosci. 1994 May;17(5):208-14. doi: 10.1016/0166-2236(94)90106-6.
An impressive amount of evidence from many different laboratories using a variety of experimental techniques indicates that the amygdala plays a crucial role in the acquisition, consolidation and retention or expression of conditioned fear. Electrophysiological data are beginning to detail the transmitters and inter-amygdala connections that transmit information to, within, and out of the amygdala. In general, treatments that increase the excitability of amygdala output neurons in the basolateral nucleus (for example, by decreasing opiate and GABA transmission, and increasing noradrenergic transmission) improve aversive conditioning, whereas treatments that decrease excitability of these neurons (by increasing opiate and GABA transmission, and decreasing NMDA and noradrenergic transmission) retard aversive conditioning as well as producing anxiolytic effects in appropriate animal tests. A better understanding of brain systems that inhibit the amygdala, as well as the role of its very high levels of peptides, might eventually lead to the development of more effective pharmacological strategies for treating clinical anxiety and memory disorders.
来自许多不同实验室、运用各种实验技术得出的大量证据表明，杏仁核在条件性恐惧的习得、巩固、保持或表达中起着关键作用。电生理数据开始详细揭示将信息传入、传出杏仁核以及在杏仁核内部传递信息的递质和杏仁核内部连接。一般来说，增加基底外侧核中杏仁核输出神经元兴奋性的处理方式（例如，通过减少阿片类和γ-氨基丁酸传递，增加去甲肾上腺素能传递）可改善厌恶条件反射，而降低这些神经元兴奋性的处理方式（通过增加阿片类和γ-氨基丁酸传递，减少N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸和去甲肾上腺素能传递）会延缓厌恶条件反射，并在适当的动物实验中产生抗焦虑作用。更好地理解抑制杏仁核的脑系统及其高水平肽类的作用，最终可能会促成更有效的治疗临床焦虑和记忆障碍的药理学策略的开发。
