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Learned helplessness
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==Neurobiological perspective== Research has shown that increased 5-HT ([[serotonin]]) activity in the [[dorsal raphe nucleus]] plays a critical role in learned helplessness. Other key brain regions that are involved with the expression of helpless behavior include the [[basolateral amygdala]], central nucleus of the [[amygdala]] and [[Stria terminalis#Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST)|bed nucleus of the stria terminalis]].<ref name=":1">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hammack SE, Cooper MA, Lezak KR | title = Overlapping neurobiology of learned helplessness and conditioned defeat: implications for PTSD and mood disorders | journal = Neuropharmacology | volume = 62 | issue = 2 | pages = 565β575 | date = February 2012 | pmid = 21396383 | pmc = 3433056 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.02.024 | publisher = University of Vermont }}<!--|access-date=16 November 2012--></ref> Activity in medial prefrontal cortex, dorsal hippocampus, septum and hypothalamus has also been observed during states of helplessness. In the article, "Exercise, Learned Helplessness, and the Stress-Resistant Brain", Benjamin N. Greenwood and Monika Fleshner discuss how exercise might prevent stress-related disorders such as anxiety and depression. They show evidence that running wheel exercise prevents learned helplessness behaviors in rats.{{sfn|Greenwood |Fleshner |2008 |p=82}} They suggest that the amount of exercise may not be as important as simply exercising at all. The article also discusses the neurocircuitry of learned helplessness, the role of serotonin (or 5-HT), and the exercise-associated neural adaptations that may contribute to the stress-resistant brain. However, the authors finally conclude that "The underlying neurobiological mechanisms of this effect, however, remain unknown. Identifying the mechanisms by which exercise prevents learned helplessness could shed light on the complex neurobiology of depression and anxiety and potentially lead to novel strategies for the prevention of stress-related mood disorders".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Greenwood |first1=Benjamin N. |last2=Fleshner |first2=Monika |title=Exercise, Learned Helplessness, and the Stress-Resistant Brain |journal=NeuroMolecular Medicine |date=June 2008 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=81β98 |doi=10.1007/s12017-008-8029-y |pmid=18300002 }}</ref> In developmental psychology the order of various stages of neurobiological development is important. From this perspective there are two different kinds of "helplessness" that appear at different stages of development. In early development, the infant is naturally helpless and must learn "helpfulness" toward mature neurophysiology. The "helplessness" that appears after maturation is what is properly termed "learned helplessness", although some researchers conflate this infantile form of "helplessness" with the pathological, adult, form.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Maier SF, Seligman ME | title = Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience | journal = Psychological Review | volume = 123 | issue = 4 | pages = 349β367 | date = July 2016 | pmid = 27337390 | pmc = 4920136 | doi = 10.1037/rev0000033 }}</ref>
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