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催产素对恐惧情绪的作用：双向调节还是方法学问题？

吴璐瑶¹, 陈嘉卉¹, 赖保君², 胡静初^1,2,*

¹华南师范大学生命科学学院，广州 510631；²华南师范大学心理学院，广州 510631

摘要

恐惧情绪的失调是焦虑障碍的核心症状之一，因此对恐惧情绪进行调控一直是心理学与神经科学领域的重要问题。催产素是一种神经肽激素，近年来越来越多的研究表明，催产素不仅影响个体的社会性行为，并且对恐惧情绪也有着重要的调节作用，被认为是一种极具潜力的心理治疗辅助药物。然而，关于催产素对恐惧情绪的作用，动物实验和人类研究出现相互矛盾的结果。本文从研究范式、行为结果、神经机制等角度综述了催产素对恐惧情绪的作用研究，讨论了不同研究的方法学背景，试图分析和总结干扰催产素对恐惧情绪作用的相关因素，同时为未来将催产素应用于临床心理治疗提供建议。

关键词： 催产素; 恐惧学习; 恐惧消退; 杏仁核

分类号：R749.053; B845

The effect of oxytocin on fear responses: bidirectional regulation or methodological issues?

WU Lu-Yao¹, CHEN Jia-Hui¹, LAI Bao-Jun², HU Jing-Chu^1,2,*

¹School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China；²School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China

Abstract

One of the core symptoms in anxiety disorders is dysregulated fear response. It is crucial for psychologists and neuroscientists to understand how fear responses are enhanced and inhibited. Although oxytocin (OXT) was initially conceived as a prosocial molecule and mammalian neuropeptide that enhances cooperation and trust, later studies showed that it produces modulatory influence on fear responses. Therefore, OXT is now regarded as a promising pharmacological agent to boost treatment response in anxiety disorders. However, the effect of OXT on fear responses have been somewhat complex, and there are some contradictions among animal experiments and human studies. In this article, we summarize recent studies that employed animal models, brain region-specific manipulations and preclinical studies to explore the role of OXT in the acquisition and processing of fear response. We also discuss the methodological differences among these studies and review the potential factors that may contribute to the complicated effect of OXT on fear response. This review will help to promote the potential clinical application of OXT.

Key words: Oxytocin; fear learning; fear extinction; amygdala

收稿日期：2019-03-22　　录用日期：2019-09-12

通讯作者：胡静初　　E-mail: hujingchu@m.scnu.edu.cn

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2019.0079

引用本文：

吴璐瑶, 陈嘉卉, 赖保君, 胡静初. 催产素对恐惧情绪的作用：双向调节还是方法学问题？[J]. 生理学报 2019; 71 (6): 905-916.

WU Lu-Yao, CHEN Jia-Hui, LAI Bao-Jun, HU Jing-Chu. The effect of oxytocin on fear responses: bidirectional regulation or methodological issues?. Acta Physiol Sin 2019; 71 (6): 905-916 (in Chinese with English abstract).