Citation

George DT, Ameli R, Koob GF. Trends Neurosci. 2019; 42(5): 349-360.

Affiliation

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD, USA; National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: george.koob@nih.gov.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.tins.2019.03.004

PMID

30955857

Abstract

Neurons in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) integrate negative emotions with the autonomic, neuroendocrine, and immune systems to facilitate responses to threat. Modern functional track tracing in animals and optogenetic and chemogenetic techniques show that the PAG is a rich substrate for the integration of active and passive responses to threat. In humans, the same regions of the PAG that give rise to adaptive anger/fight, fear/panic, depression/shutdown, pain, and predatory behaviors in response to challenging situations or overwhelming threats can become activated pathologically, resulting in symptoms that resemble those of psychiatric disorders. This review coalesces human and animal studies to link PAG neuropathways to specific elements of psychiatric diagnoses. The insights gained from this overview may eventually lead to new therapeutic interventions.

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

addiction; depression; intermittent explosive disorder; pain; survival