Morgan M A, Romanski L M, LeDoux J E
Department of Psychology, New York University, NY 10003.
Neurosci Lett. 1993 Nov 26;163(1):109-13. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(93)90241-c.
Stimuli associated with painful or otherwise unpleasant events acquire aversive emotional properties in animals and humans. Subsequent presentation of the stimulus alone (in the absence of the unpleasant event) leads to the eventual extinction of the aversive reaction. Although the neural basis of emotional learning has been studied extensively, considerably less is known about the neural basis of emotional extinction. In the present study, we show that the medial prefrontal cortex plays an important role in the regulation of fear extinction in rats, a finding that may help elucidate the mechanisms and, possibly, the treatment of disorders of uncontrolled fear, such as anxiety, phobic, panic and posttraumatic stress disorders in humans.
与疼痛或其他不愉快事件相关的刺激在动物和人类中会获得厌恶情绪属性。随后单独呈现该刺激（在没有不愉快事件的情况下）会导致厌恶反应最终消退。尽管对情绪学习的神经基础已进行了广泛研究，但对情绪消退的神经基础了解得要少得多。在本研究中，我们表明内侧前额叶皮层在大鼠恐惧消退的调节中起重要作用，这一发现可能有助于阐明机制，并且有可能用于治疗人类中不受控制的恐惧障碍，如焦虑症、恐惧症、恐慌症和创伤后应激障碍。
