Stressor controllability, anxiety, and serotonin

被引:93
作者
Maier, SF [1 ]
Watkins, LR [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
关键词
anxiety; fear; stress; learned helplessness; stressor controllability; serotonin; amygdala; dorsal raphe nucleus;
D O I
10.1023/A:1018794104325
中图分类号
B849 [应用心理学];
学科分类号
040203 ;
摘要
it is argued that exposure to stressors can sensitize the neural machiner that mediates fear for a period of time, and that during this time period fear conditioning is potentiated and responses to ambiguous or mildly fearful stimuli are exaggerated. The controllability of the stressor is a key characteristic of the stressor which determines whether this sensitization occurs. That is, sensitization follows exposure to uncontrollable, but not to controllable, stressors. It is argued that this sensitization of the neural structures that mediate fear may be similar to what is meant by anxiety, and that brain serotonin systems are a key component of this sensitization process. The implications of this point of view for a variety of phenomena including learned helplessness and reactivity to drugs of abuse are discussed.
引用
收藏
页码:595 / 613
页数:19
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