Neurobiology of fear and anxiety research.doc

 PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 12 Neurobiology of fear and anxiety research Keywords:: neurobiology of fear, anxiety Fear in the face of threatening situations when the emotional reaction, when the fear of significantly more than its due as the extent of fear; in the absence of real threat, the feeling of fear or worry about is called anxiety. In the past used to think that emotions are difficult to study neuroscience methods, but now has become an emotional neuroscience is a hot research topic. Fear and anxiety on the neural pathway and mechanism of the study has been great progress. Such research is based on the classical conditioned reflex, using new research methods, for example, using micro-coagulation and trace drug injection, causing limited to a particular neural structure, Bureau of damages, and then observe the behavioral effects related to, or Electricity physiological recording of neural electrophysiological changes. 1, classical fear conditioning This is a study of fear of the simplest, most direct method. People in the face of fear will happen when the defense reaction, including: (1) behavior change, will choose to fight or flight; (2) the autonomic nervous functional changes, there rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure and sweating and so on; (3) neuro-endocrine changes in , mainly the hypothalamus - pituitary - adrenal (hypoth-alamic-pituitary-adrenal, hPA) axis activity increased, elevated levels of serum cortisol. With the conditioned reflex of the method is also able to elicit a similar response. The neutral stimulus, such as the monotonous sound (conditioned stimulus), with a can cause fear stimuli (eg foot shock) were given to test animals at the same time, repeated several times, the conditioned stimulus may also cause similar animals were tested fears of behavior, autonomic nervous and neuroendocrine responses. These reactions are directly caused by fear, not learned or conditioned performance. In other words, fear of the acquisition of conditi