Preferential Neuronal Responses to Snakes in the Monkey Medial Prefrontal Cortex Support an Evolutionary Origin for Ophidiophobia

Dinh, Ha Trong and Nishimaru, Hiroshi and Le, Quan Van and Matsumoto, Jumpei and Setogawa, Tsuyoshi and Maior, Rafael S. and Tomaz, Carlos and Ono, Taketoshi and Nishijo, Hisao (2021) Preferential Neuronal Responses to Snakes in the Monkey Medial Prefrontal Cortex Support an Evolutionary Origin for Ophidiophobia. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 15. ISSN 1662-5153

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Abstract

Ophidiophobia (snake phobia) is one of the most common specific phobias. It has been proposed that specific phobia may have an evolutionary origin, and that attentional bias to specific items may promote the onset of phobia. Noninvasive imaging studies of patients with specific phobia reported that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), especially the rostral part of the anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), and amygdala are activated during the presentation of phobogenic stimuli. We propose that the mPFC-amygdala circuit may be involved in the pathogenesis of phobia. The mPFC receives inputs from the phylogenically old subcortical visual pathway including the superior colliculus, pulvinar, and amygdala, while mPFC neurons are highly sensitive to snakes that are the first modern predator of primates, and discriminate snakes with striking postures from those with non-striking postures. Furthermore, the mPFC has been implicated in the attentional allocation and promotes amygdala-dependent aversive conditioning. These findings suggest that the rACC focuses attention on snakes, and promotes aversive conditioning to snakes, which may lead to anxiety and ophidiophobia.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Journal Eprints > Biological Science
Depositing User: Managing Editor
Date Deposited: 27 Feb 2023 06:40
Last Modified: 22 May 2024 08:58
URI: http://repository.journal4submission.com/id/eprint/1040

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