In nature, animals display defensive behaviors that reflect the spatiotemporal distance of threats. Laboratory-based paradigms that elicit specific defensive responses in rodents have provided valuable insight into the brain mechanisms that mediate the construction of defensive modes with varying degrees of threat imminence. In this Review, we discuss accumulating evidence that the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) plays a key role in this process. Specifically, we propose that the mutually inhibitory circuits of the CeA use a winner-takes-all strategy that supports transitioning across defensive modes and the execution of specific defensive behaviors to previously formed threat associations. Our proposal provides a conceptual framework in which seemingly divergent observations regarding CeA function can be interpreted and identifies various areas of priority for future research.

在自然界中，动物表现出反映威胁时空距离的防御行为。基于实验室的范例在啮齿动物中引起特定的防御反应，为了解大脑机制提供了宝贵的见解，这些机制调节具有不同程度的威胁迫在眉睫的防御模式的构建。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了越来越多的证据表明杏仁核 (CeA) 的中央核在这一过程中起着关键作用。具体来说，我们建议 CeA 的相互抑制电路使用赢者通吃的策略，该策略支持跨防御模式的转换以及对先前形成的威胁关联执行特定防御行为。