Anxiety can be an adaptive response to potentially threatening situations. However, if experienced in inappropriate contexts, it can also lead to pathological and maladaptive anxiety disorders. Experimentally, anxiety can be induced in healthy individuals using the threat of shock (ToS) paradigm. Accumulating work with this paradigm suggests that anxiety promotes harm-avoidant mechanisms through enhanced inhibitory control. However, the specific cognitive mechanisms underlying anxiety-linked inhibitory control are unclear. Critically, behavioral inhibition can arise from at least 2 interacting valuation systems: instrumental (a goal-directed system) and Pavlovian (a "hardwired" reflexive system). The present study (N = 62) replicated a study showing improved response inhibition under ToS in healthy participants, and additionally examined the impact of ToS on aversive and appetitive Pavlovian-instrumental interactions in a reinforced go/no-go task. When Pavlovian and instrumental systems were in conflict, ToS increased inhibition to aversive events, while leaving appetitive interactions unperturbed. We argue that anxiety promotes avoidant behavior in potentially harmful situations by potentiating aversive Pavlovian reactions (i.e., promoting avoidance in the face of threats). Critically, such a mechanism would drive adaptive harm-avoidant behavior in threatening situations where Pavlovian and instrumental processes are aligned, but at the same time, result in maladaptive behaviors when misaligned and where instrumental control would be advantageous. This has important implications for our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie pathological anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record

中文翻译：

---

休克威胁和厌恶抑制：诱发的焦虑调节巴甫洛夫乐器的相互作用。

焦虑可以是对潜在威胁情况的适应性反应。然而，如果在不适当的环境中经历，它也可能导致病理性和适应不良的焦虑症。实验上，可以使用休克威胁 (ToS) 范式在健康个体中诱发焦虑。使用这种范式积累的工作表明，焦虑通过增强抑制控制来促进避免伤害的机制。然而，与焦虑相关的抑制控制的具体认知机制尚不清楚。至关重要的是，行为抑制可能来自至少 2 个相互作用的评估系统：工具（目标导向系统）和巴甫洛夫（“硬连线”反射系统）。本研究 (N = 62) 复制了一项研究，该研究显示健康参与者在 ToS 下的反应抑制得到改善，并另外检查了 ToS 对增强的 go/no-go 任务中厌恶和食欲的巴甫洛夫乐器交互的影响。当巴甫洛夫系统和工具系统发生冲突时，ToS 增加了对厌恶事件的抑制，同时保持食欲互动不受干扰。我们认为，焦虑通过增强厌恶的巴甫洛夫反应（即在面临威胁时促进回避）来促进潜在有害情况下的回避行为。至关重要的是，这种机制将在巴甫洛夫过程和工具过程一致的威胁情况下推动适应性的避免伤害行为，但同时，当不一致且工具控制将是有利的情况下，会导致适应不良的行为。这对我们理解病理性焦虑背后的机制具有重要意义。