The Psychobiology of Resilience

Although adverse environments are well known to be a risk factor for psychopathology, many individuals respond adaptively to such environments. There is growing interest in the underlying mechanisms involved in such resilience. Several cognitive-affective processes may be involved, and these may be mediated by particular neuronal circuits and neurochemical systems. This article summarizes some of the relevant work on the role of fear conditioning, reward processing, and social behavior in resilience. There is a growing body of data on how particular gene-environment interactions affect these processes, and thus underpin resilience. Ultimately, a better understanding of the mechanisms underpinning resilience may lead to novel interventions.