Anxiety, ‘the disease of the 21st century’, is a clinical enigma. Using virtual predators to create real-world threat scenarios, two new studies build on prior rodent-based anxiety theory to map effects of personality and decision complexity in human prefrontal cortex. We may soon have coherent neural maps of these disabling and costly psychiatric disorders.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
McNaughton, N. & Corr, P. J. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 28, 285–305 (2004).
Graeff, F. G. Braz. J. Med. Biol. Res. 27, 811–829 (1994).
Fung, B. et al. Nat. Hum. Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0595-5 (2019).
Korn, C. W. & Bach, D. Nat. Hum. Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0603-9 (2019).
Gray, J.A. & McNaughton, N. The Neuropsychology of Anxiety: An Enquiry into the Functions of the Septo-hippocampal System. 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2000).
LeDoux, J. Anxious: The Modern Mind in the Age of Anxiety. (Oneworld Publications, 2015).
Blanchard, D.C. & Blanchard, R.J. in Annu. Rev. Psychol. (eds. Rosenzweig, M. K. & Porter, L. W.) 43–68 (Palo Alto, 1988).
Blanchard, R. J., Griebel, G., Henrie, J. A. & Blanchard, D. C. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 21, 783–789 (1997).
Blanchard, D. C. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 76 Pt A, 22–28 (2017).
Gray, J.A. The Psychology of Fear and Stress. (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971).
LeDoux, J. Neuron 73, 653–676 (2012).
Mobbs, D. et al. Science 317, 1079–1083 (2007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McNaughton, N. Brain maps of fear and anxiety. Nat Hum Behav 3, 662–663 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0621-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0621-7
- Springer Nature Limited