NEURAL SUBTSTRATES OF CONDITIONED INHIBITION OF FEAR

使用巴甫洛夫条件反射程序，结合诸如 作为冰冻，或恐惧强化的惊吓反应，相当可观 在过去的十年里，在理解 恐惧条件反射的生物学基础。谷氨酸受体激活 在杏仁核中是获得和表达 使用听觉或视觉条件刺激的条件性恐惧。 目前，对其背后的生物学机制知之甚少。 恐惧的抑制，这可能在病因学和 焦虑症的治疗。这项提案将调查 强刺激下一种恐惧抑制的神经基础 对照：巴甫洛夫条件抑制。条件性抑制会 被衡量为恐惧加剧的惊吓程度 反应被训练为巴甫洛夫条件反射的刺激而减少 抑制剂。谷氨酸传递在杏仁核中的作用 将评估条件性抑制的获得和表达 选择性N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸杏仁核局部注射 (NMDA)和非NMDA谷氨酸拮抗剂。这些研究的结果 研究有望提供一个基础，以了解 恐惧状态是由发出安全信号的刺激控制的。

Using Pavlovian conditioning procedures, combined with measures such as freezing, or the fear-potentiated startle response, considerable progress has been made in the last decade in understanding the biological basis of fear conditioning. Glutamate receptor activation in the amygdala is critical for the acquisition and expression of conditioned fear using auditory or visual conditioned stimuli (CSs). At present, less is known about the biological mechanisms underlying the inhibition of fear, which may be important in the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders. This proposal will investigate the neural substrates of a form of fear inhibition under tight stimulus control: Pavlovian conditioned inhibition. Conditioned inhibition will be measured as the extent to which the fear-potentiated startle response is reduced by a stimulus trained as a Pavlovian conditioned inhibitor. The role of glutamate transmission in the amygdala in the acquisition and expression of conditioned inhibition will be assessed by local infusion into the amygdala of selective N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA glutamate antagonists. The results of these studies promise to provide a basis for understanding the way in which a state of fear is gated by stimuli signaling safety.