Reacting to the Unpleasant: Dynamics of the Human Defence Cascade

本项目旨在研究人类对压力源的防御反应的时间动态。防御反应的时间过程已经在动物中得到了很好的研究，导致了所谓的防御级联模型，它指定了一个典型的情感和行为状态序列，取决于压力源的距离和强度。目前在人类中没有这样的防御反应的多变量模型。在这里，我们建议使用一个多层次的方法来检查压力强度和压力源的距离在空间和时间上的相关参数，即外周生理，大脑过程，自我报告和行动的影响。人类防御级联的变化作为学习和经验的函数，将在临床和正常人群中进行研究，使用多个会话设计。作为一个长期目标，我们的目标是探索这种变化的防御级联反过来如何影响个人环境的相互作用在更大的规模。例如，成形的防御级联可能在增强或降低对进一步压力的敏感性以及改变对厌恶刺激的反应模式中变得可见。这些因素可能会改变高阶聚合体中的社会行为，最终影响宏观行为变量，如社会互动风格。

The present project aims to examine the temporal dynamics of the human defence response to stressors. The time course of defensive responses has been well examined in animals, leading to the model of the so-called defence cascade, which specifies a typical sequence of affective and behavioral states, depending on the distance and intensity of the stressor. No such multivariate model of defence reactions is currently available in humans. Here, we propose to use a multi-level approach to examine effects of stressor intensity and stressor distance in space and time on the relevant parameters, namely peripheral physiology, brain processes, self-report, and action. Changes of the human defence cascade as a function of learning and experience will be studied in clinical and normal populations, using multiple session designs. As a long-term goal, we aim to explore how such changes of the defence cascade in turn affect individual-environment interactions on a larger scale. For instance, the shaped defence cascade may become visible in enhanced or reduced susceptibility to further stressors as well as altered response patterns in response to aversive stimuli. These factors may act to alter social behavior in higher-order aggregates, ultimately affecting macroscopic behavior variables such as style of social interaction.