Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Q&A
  • Published:

Viewpoints: Approaches to defining and investigating fear

Nature Neuroscience volume 22, pages 1205–1216 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

There is disagreement on how best to define and investigate fear. Nature Neuroscience asked Dean Mobbs to lead experts from the fields of human and animal affective neuroscience to discuss their viewpoints on how to define fear and how to move forward with the study of fear.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Adolphs, R. & Anderson, D.J. The Neurobiology of Emotion: A New Synthesis. (Princeton University Press, 2018).

  2. Kunwar, P. S. et al. eLife 4, e06633 (2015).

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Feinstein, J. S., Adolphs, R., Damasio, A. & Tranel, D. Curr. Biol. 21, 34–38 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Garcia, J., Hankins, W. G. & Rusiniak, K. W. Science 185, 824–831 (1974).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Fox, M. W. Behaviour 35, 259–272 (1969).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Herzog, H. & Burghardt, G. Herpetologica 30, 285–289 (1974).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Barrett, L. F. & Simmons, W. K. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 16, 419–429 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Barrett, L. F. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 12, 1–23 (2017).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bateson, G. & Mead, M. Balinese character: a photographic analysis. in Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader. (eds. Robben, A. C. G. M. & Sluka, J. A.) 450–464 (New York Academy of Sciences, 1942).

  10. Casasanto, D. & Lupyan, G. All concepts are ad hoc concepts. in Concepts: New Directions. (eds. Margolis, E. & Laurence, S.) (MIT Press, 2015).

  11. LeDoux, J.E. The Emotional Brain. (Simon and Schuster, 1996).

  12. LeDoux, J. E. & Brown, R. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 114, E2016–E2025 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. LeDoux, J.E. Anxious: Using the Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety. (Viking, 2015).

  14. LeDoux, J. E. Trends Cogn. Sci. 21, 303–306 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Anderson, D. J. & Adolphs, R. Cell 157, 187–200 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Darwin, C. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. (John Murray, 1872).

  17. Davis, M., Walker, D. L., Miles, L. & Grillon, C. Neuropsychopharmacology 35, 105–135 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Fanselow, M. S. & Gale, G. D. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 985, 125–134 (2003).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Gross, C. T. & Canteras, N. S. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 13, 651–658 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. LeDoux, J. E. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 23, 155–184 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Fanselow, M. S. Anim. Learn. Behav. 18, 264–270 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. LeDoux, J. E. Behav. Brain Res. 58, 69–79 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Duvarci, S. & Pare, D. Neuron 82, 966–980 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Janak, P. H. & Tye, K. M. Nature 517, 284–292 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Maren, S. & Quirk, G. J. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 5, 844–852 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Mobbs, D. & Kim, J. J. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 5, 8–15 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Block, N. Consciousness, big science, and conceptual clarity. in The Future of the Brain. (eds. Marcus, G. & Freeman, J.) (Princeton University Press, 2015).

  28. Fast, C. D. & McGann, J. P. J. Neurosci. 37, 3085–3101 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Leon, M. I., Poytress, B. S. & Weinberger, N. M. Neurobiol. Learn. Mem. 90, 347–357 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Bolles, R. C. Psychol. Rev. 77, 32–48 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Fanselow, M.S. The adaptive function of conditioned defensive behavior: an ecological approach to Pavlovian stimulus substitution theory. in Ethoexperimental Approaches to the study of Behavior. (eds. Blanchard, R. J., Brain, P. F., Blanchard, D. C. & Parmigiani, S.). NATO ASI Series D Vol 48, 151–166 (Kluver, 1989).

  32. Rabinovich, M. I., Simmons, A. N. & Varona, P. Trends Cogn. Sci. 19, 453–461 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Gjorgjieva, J., Drion, G. & Marder, E. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 37, 44–52 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Marder, E. & Taylor, A. L. Nat. Neurosci. 14, 133–138 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Hutchinson, J.B. & Barrett, L.F. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419831992.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. LeDoux, J. E. & Pine, D. S. Am. J. Psychiatry 173, 1083–1093 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Weiskrantz, L. Consciousness Lost and Found: A Neuropsychological Exploration. (Oxford University Press, 1997).

  38. Celeghin, A., de Gelder, B. & Tamietto, M. Conscious. Cogn. 36, 414–425 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Anders, S. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 339–340 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Ohman, A. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 11, 62–66 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Bornemann, B., Winkielman, P. & van der Meer, E. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 85, 116–124 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Fanselow, M.S. & Lester, L.S. A functional behavioristic approach to aversively motivated behavior: Predatory imminence as a determinant of the topography of defensive behavior. in Evolution and Learning. (eds. Bolles R. C. & Beecher, M. D.) 185–212 (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1988).

  43. Mobbs, D. et al. Science 317, 1079–1083 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Nieh, E. H., Kim, S.-Y., Namburi, P. & Tye, K. M. Brain Res. 1511, 73–92 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Tye, K. M. Neuron 100, 436–452 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Vander Weele, C. M., Siciliano, C. A. & Tye, K. M. Brain Res. 1713, 16–31 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Vander Weele, C. M. et al. Nature 563, 397–401 (2018b).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Schachter, S. & Singer, J. E. Psychol. Rev. 69, 379–399 (1962).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Evans, D. A. et al. Nature 558, 590–594 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Lin, D. et al. Nature 470, 221–226 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  51. Feinstein, J. S. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 16, 270–272 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Rigotti, M. et al. Nature 497, 585–590 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  53. Grunfeld, I. S. & Likhtik, E. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 49, 108–115 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  54. Chung, A., Barot, S. K., Kim, J. J. & Bernstein, I. L. Learn. Mem. 18, 371–374 (2011).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  55. Fanselow, M. S. Psychon. Bull. Rev. 1, 429–438 (1994).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Adams, D. B. Behav. Brain Sci. 2, 200–213 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  57. Barrett, L. F. & Finlay, B. L. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 24, 172–179 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  58. Sterling, P. & Laughlin, S. The Principles of Neural Design. (MIT Press, 2015).

  59. Keck, T. et al. Neuron 80, 327–334 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Merabet, L. B. et al. PLoS One 3, e3046 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. LeDoux, J. & Daw, N. D. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 19, 269–282 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. LeDoux, J. Neuron 73, 653–676 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  63. LeDoux, J. E. & Mobbs, D. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 24, 168–171 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Canteras, N. S. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 24, 7–13 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Marroquín, B., Boyle, C. C., Nolen-Hoeksema, S. & Stanton, A. L. Pers. Individ. Dif. 95, 121–126 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  66. Allsop, S. A., Vander Weele, C. M., Wichmann, R. & Tye, K. M. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 8, 241 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  67. Matthews, G. A. et al. Cell 164, 617–631 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  68. Nieh, E. H. et al. Cell 160, 528–541 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  69. Mineka, S. & Cook, M. J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 122, 23–38 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Jeon, D. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 13, 482–488 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  71. Allsop, S. A. et al. Cell 173, 1329–1342.e18 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  72. Barrett, L.F. et al. Psychol. Sci. Public Interest (in the press).

  73. Tolman, E.C. Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men. (Century/Random House UK, 1932).

  74. Bolles, R. C. & Fanselow, M. S. Behav. Brain Sci. 3, 291–301 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  75. Mobbs, D. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 47, 20582–20586 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. Fanselow, M. S. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 24, 44–49 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  77. Perusini, J. N. & Fanselow, M. S. Learn. Mem. 22, 417–425 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  78. Crawford, M. & Masterson, F. J. Exp. Psychol. Anim. Behav. Process. 4, 144–151 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. Moyer, K. E. & Korn, J. H. J. Exp. Psychol. 67, 352–359 (1964).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  80. Barrett, L. F. & Bliss-Moreau, E. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 41, 167–218 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  81. Block, N. Behav. Brain Sci. 30, 481–499 (2007). discussion 499–548.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  82. Block, N. et al. Trends Cogn. Sci. 18, 556–557 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  83. LeDoux, J. E. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111, 2871–2878 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  84. Mowrer, O. H. & Lamoreaux, R. R. J. Comp. Psychol. 39, 29–50 (1946).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  85. Miller, N.E. Learnable drives and rewards. in Handbook of Experimental Psychology. (Stevens, S. S., ed), 435–472 (Wiley, 1951).

  86. Wolpe, J. Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition. (Stanford University Press, 1958).

  87. Mobbs, D., Hagan, C. C., Dalgleish, T., Silston, B. & Prévost, C. Front. Neurosci. 9, 55 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  88. Finlay, B. L. & Uchiyama, R. Trends Neurosci. 38, 69–76 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  89. Cooke, D.F. et al. Rats gone wild: how seminatural rearing of laboratory animals shapes behavioral and alters somatosensory and motor cortex organization. in Society for Neuroscience 2016 Poster 807.12 (2016).

  90. LeDoux, J. (2019) The Deep History of Ourselves: How Ancient Microbes Became Conscious Brains. (Viking, 2019).

  91. Reiter, S. et al. Nature 562, 361–366 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  92. Guzowski, J. F., McNaughton, B. L., Barnes, C. A. & Worley, P. F. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 11, 579–584 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  93. Barrett, L.F. Curr. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.037 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  94. Andersen, F., Anjum, R. L. & Rocca, E. eLife 8, e44929 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  95. Barrett, L. F. & Satpute, A. B. Neurosci. Lett. 693, 9–18 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  96. Rescorla, R. A. & Solomon, R. L. Psychol. Rev. 74, 151–182 (1967).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  97. Mowrer, O.H. Learning Theory and Behavior. (Wiley, 1960).

  98. Panksepp, J. Hypothalamic integration of behavior: rewards, punishments, and related psychological processes. in Handbook of the Hypothalamus Vol 3, Behavioral Studies of the Hypothalamus (eds. Morgane, P. J. & Panksepp, J.) 289–431 (Marcel Dekker, 1980).

  99. Panksepp, J. (1998) Affective Neuroscience. (Oxford U. Press, 1998).

  100. Lieberman, M. Cogn. Emotion 33, 24–30 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  101. Fanselow, M. S. & Pennington, Z. T. Behav. Res. Ther. 100, 24–29 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  102. Anderson, M. L. & Finlay, B. L. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 7, 918 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  103. Finlay, B. Dev. Psychobiol. 61, 317–322 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  104. Suvak, M. K. & Barrett, L. F. J. Trauma. Stress 24, 3–24 (2011).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  105. Anderson, M. L. Behav. Brain Sci. 39, e120 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and Computation and Neural Systems Program, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

    Dean Mobbs & Ralph Adolphs

  2. Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Michael S. Fanselow

  3. Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Lisa Feldman Barrett

  4. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Lisa Feldman Barrett

  5. Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York, USA

    Joseph E. LeDoux

  6. Nathan Kline Institute, New York State Office of Mental Health, New York, New York, USA

    Joseph E. LeDoux

  7. Departments of Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical School, New York, New York, USA

    Joseph E. LeDoux

  8. Division of Depression & Anxiety Disorders, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA

    Kerry Ressler

  9. Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Kerry Ressler

  10. Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, USA

    Kay M. Tye

Authors
  1. Dean Mobbs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ralph Adolphs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael S. Fanselow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lisa Feldman Barrett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Joseph E. LeDoux
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kerry Ressler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Kay M. Tye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dean Mobbs.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mobbs, D., Adolphs, R., Fanselow, M.S. et al. Viewpoints: Approaches to defining and investigating fear. Nat Neurosci 22, 1205–1216 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0456-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0456-6

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing