The Biology of Fear
- Creators
- Adolphs, Ralph
Abstract
Each of us has felt afraid, and we can all recognize fear in many animal species. Yet there is no consensus in the scientific study of fear. Some argue that 'fear' is a psychological construct rather than something discoverable through scientific investigation. Others argue that the term 'fear' cannot properly be applied to animals because we cannot know whether they feel afraid. Studies in rodents show that there are highly specific brain circuits for fear, whereas findings from human neuroimaging seem to make the opposite claim. Here, I review the field and urge three approaches that could reconcile the debates. For one, we need a broadly comparative approach that would identify core components of fear conserved across phylogeny. This also pushes us towards the second point of emphasis: an ecological theory of fear that is essentially functional. Finally, we should aim even to incorporate the conscious experience of being afraid, reinvigorating the study of feelings across species.
Additional Information
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. I thank Michael Davis, Dean Mobbs, Adam Anderson, Lisa Barrett, Jaak Panksepp and Shuo Wang for providing many helpful comments and no consensus, and David Alf and Catherine Holcomb for editorial assistance. I am especially indebted to David Anderson for comments and discussions that have considerably shaped the conceptual aspects of this review. Supported in part by grants from NIMH.Attached Files
Accepted Version - nihms431820.pdf
Files
Name | Size | Download all |
---|---|---|
md5:29db6e8c29ac2cb46f8e2061436c118f
|
3.4 MB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC3595162
- Eprint ID
- 36710
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20130131-105339980
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- NIH
- Created
-
2013-02-13Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field