Freeze for action: neurobiological mechanisms in animal and human freezing

@article{Roelofs2017FreezeFA,
  title={Freeze for action: neurobiological mechanisms in animal and human freezing},
  author={Karin Roelofs},
  journal={Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences},
  year={2017},
  volume={372}
}
  • K. Roelofs
  • Published 27 February 2017
  • Biology, Psychology
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Upon increasing levels of threat, animals activate qualitatively different defensive modes, including freezing and active fight-or-flight reactions. Whereas freezing is a form of behavioural inhibition accompanied by parasympathetically dominated heart rate deceleration, fight-or-flight reactions are associated with sympathetically driven heart rate acceleration. Despite the potential relevance of freezing for human stress-coping, its phenomenology and neurobiological underpinnings remain… 
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