Learning locations of danger within our environment is a vital adaptive ability whose neural bases are only partially understood. We examined fMRI brain activity while participants navigated a virtual environment in which flowers appeared and were “picked.” Picking flowers in the danger zone (one-half of the environment) predicted an electric shock to the wrist (or “bee sting”); flowers in the safe zone never predicted shock; and household objects served as controls for neutral spatial memory. Participants demonstrated learning with shock expectancy ratings and skin conductance increases for flowers in the danger zone. Patterns of brain activity shifted between overlapping networks during different task stages. Learning about environmental threats, during flower approach in either zone, engaged the anterior hippocampus, amygdala, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), with vmPFC–hippocampal functional connectivity increasing with experience. Threat appraisal, during approach in the danger zone, engaged the insula and dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC), with insula–hippocampal functional connectivity. During imminent threat, after picking a flower, this pattern was supplemented by activity in periaqueductal gray (PAG), insula–dACC coupling, and posterior hippocampal activity that increased with experience. We interpret these patterns in terms of multiple representations of spatial context (anterior hippocampus); specific locations (posterior hippocampus); stimuli (amygdala); value (vmPFC); threat, both visceral (insula) and cognitive (dACC); and defensive behaviors (PAG), interacting in different combinations to perform the functions required at each task stage. Our findings illuminate how we learn about location-specific threats and suggest how they might break down into overgeneralization or hypervigilance in anxiety disorders.

中文翻译：

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用于学习和表达针对特定位置的威胁的链接网络

了解我们环境中的危险位置是一项至关重要的适应能力，其神经基础只能被部分理解。当参与者在一个虚拟的环境中导航时，我们检查了功能磁共振成像的大脑活动，在该环境中出现并“摘下”了花朵。在危险区域（环境的一半）采摘鲜花预示手腕会受到电击（或“刺痛”）；安全区内的花朵从未预料到过电击；和家庭对象充当中性空间记忆的控件。参加者展示了学习能力，并在危险区域内提高了休克预期等级并提高了皮肤电导率。在不同的任务阶段，大脑活动的模式在重叠的网络之间转移。在任一区域的花朵接近过程中，了解到环境威胁后，前海马，杏仁核，腹侧前额叶皮层（vmPFC），随着经验的增长，vmPFC与海马功能的连接性增加。在危险区域进近过程中，进行威胁评估时，将岛状岛和背侧扣带（dACC）与岛状-海马体功能连接在一起。在迫在眉睫的威胁中，摘花后，这种模式得到了导水管周围灰色（PAG）的活性，insula-dACC耦合和后海马活动的增加，这些活动随经验的增加而增加。我们用空间背景（海马前部）的多种表示来解释这些模式。具体位置（海马后部）；刺激（杏仁核）; 值（vmPFC）; 内脏（岛）和认知（dACC）的威胁；和防御行为（PAG），以不同的组合进行交互以执行每个任务阶段所需的功能。