Amygdala–prefrontal interactions in (mal)adaptive learning

	Amygdala–prefrontal interactions in (mal)adaptive learning Navigation through daily life depends on a blueprint of familiar stimulus–outcome associations and the ability to update them as circumstances change. The update is particularly important for tracking shifting sources of danger. Too little self-protection in the face of new threat risks bodily harm, whereas indiscriminate fear is physically and psychologically debilitating, as evidenced in anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). In neurobiology, the most popular model of associative learning, first formalized by Pavlov during the early 20th century [1], continues to be a versatile tool for studying how the nervous system learns about the changing world in general and emotional learning in particular [2]. Read More »