ArticleNPJ science of learning2017
WHEN SCIENTIFIC PARADIGMS LEAD TO TUNNEL VISION: LESSONS FROM THE STUDY OF FEAR.
Article in NPJ science of learning, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Annual Research Review: What processes are dysregulated among emotionally dysregulated youth? - a systematic review.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Pooled it
- Hippocampal representations differentiate reactive and anticipatory responses during foraging under threat.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Ventral Pallidum and Amygdala Cooperate to Restrain Reward Approach under Threat.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Dynamic threat-reward neural processing under semi-naturalistic ecologically relevant scenarios.Human brain mapping · 2024Article
- Prefrontal circuits encode both general danger and specific threat representations.Nature neuroscience · 2023Article
- Threat and Reward Imminence Processing in the Human Brain.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2023Article
- The Entangled Brain.Journal of cognitive neuroscience · 2023Article
- How many brain regions are needed to elucidate the neural bases of fear and anxiety?Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Review
- Piecing together the puzzle of emotional consciousness.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2023Review
- Encoding of Environmental Cues in Central Amygdala Neurons during Foraging.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2022Article
- Role of the anterior insular cortex in restraint-stress induced fear behaviors.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Distributed and Multifaceted Effects of Threat and Safety.Journal of cognitive neuroscience · 2022Article
- Disrupted development from head to tail: Pervasive effects of postnatal restricted resources on neurobiological, behavioral, and morphometric outcomes.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Article
- Migration-related trauma and mental health among migrant children emigrating from Mexico and Central America to the United States: Effects on developmental neurobiology and implications for policy.Developmental psychobiology · 2021Review
- Toward a holistic view of value and social processing in the amygdala: Insights from primate behavioral neurophysiology.Behavioural brain research · 2021Review
- Studying dopamine in addiction: the cart should follow the horse.Trends in neurosciences · 2021Article
- Learning About Safety: Conditioned Inhibition as a Novel Approach to Fear Reduction Targeting the Developing Brain.The American journal of psychiatry · 2021Review
- Different Multidimensional Representations across the Amygdalo-Prefrontal Network during an Approach-Avoidance Task.Neuron · 2020Article
- Translating Fear Circuitry: Amygdala Projections to Subgenual and Perigenual Anterior Cingulate in the Macaque.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2020Article
- The study of active avoidance: A platform for discussion.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
For the past 30 years, research on the amygdala has largely focused on the genesis of defensive behaviors as its main function. This focus originated from early lesion studies and was supported by extensive anatomical, physiological, and pharmacological data. Here we argue that while much data is consistent with the fear model of amygdala function, it has never been directly tested, in part due to overreliance on the fear conditioning task. In support of the fear model, amygdala neurons appear to signal threats and/or stimuli predictive of threats. However, recent studies in a natural threat setting show that amygdala activity does not correlate with threats, but simply with the movement of the rat, independent of valence. This was true for both natural threats as well as conditioned stimuli; indeed there was no evidence of threat signaling in amygdala neurons. Similar findings are emerging for prefrontal neurons that modulate the amygdala. These recent developments lead us to propose a new conceptualization of amygdala function whereby the amygdala inhibits behavioral engagement. Moreover, we propose that the goal of understanding the amygdala will be best served by shifting away from fear conditioning toward naturalistic approach and avoidance paradigms that involve decision making and a larger repertoire of spontaneous and learned behaviors, all the while keeping an open mind.
Identifiers
30294453PMC6171770What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.