Young B J, Leaton R N
Department of Psychology, Dartmouth College.
Behav Neurosci. 1996 Apr;110(2):228-37. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.110.2.228.
Amygdala central nucleus (CNA) lesions were used to test the hypothesis that stimulus-evoked heart rate changes can reflect the development of fear during acoustic startle testing. A 120-dB white noise startle stimulus produced freezing as well as phasic heart rate accelerations and decelerations, and an abrupt decrease in tonic heart rate, in sham-operated rats. These responses were all significantly reduced in CNA-lesioned rats. In contrast, an 87-dB stimulus elicited only significant phasic decelerations that were similarly attenuated by the CNA lesions. In a follow-up experiment, the CNA lesions also attenuated phasic cardiac decelerations evoked by a conditioned stimulus-like, 85-dB pure tone. The results support the contention (B. J. Young & R.N. Leaton, 1994) that heart rate changes can reflect fear conditioned during acoustic startle testing and, in addition, suggest that the amygdala mediates responses to nonsignal acoustic stimuli.
杏仁核中央核（CNA）损伤被用于检验这样一个假设：在听觉惊吓测试中，刺激诱发的心率变化能够反映恐惧的产生。在假手术大鼠中，120分贝的白噪声惊吓刺激会引发僵住反应，以及心率的相位性加速和减速，同时静息心率会突然下降。在CNA损伤的大鼠中，这些反应均显著减弱。相比之下，87分贝的刺激仅引发了显著的相位性减速，且同样被CNA损伤所减弱。在后续实验中，CNA损伤也减弱了由类似条件刺激的85分贝纯音诱发的相位性心脏减速。这些结果支持了B. J. 杨和R. N. 利顿（1994年）的观点，即心率变化能够反映听觉惊吓测试中形成的恐惧条件反射，此外，还表明杏仁核介导了对非信号听觉刺激的反应。
