Psychology Faculty Publications
Psychology
Winter 2010
Play and Adversity: How the Playful Mammalian
Brain Withstands Threats and Anxieties
Stephen M. Siviy
Gettysburg College
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Siviy, S. M. (2010). Play and Adversity: How the Playful Mammalian Brain Withstands Threats and Anxieties. American Journal of
Play, 2:3, 297-314. http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/2-3-article-play-and-adversity.pdf
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Play and Adversity: How the Playful Mammalian Brain Withstands
Threats and Anxieties
Abstract
Most mammals play, but they do so in a dangerous world. The dynamic relationship between the stresses
created by their world and the activity of play helps to explain the evolution of play in mammals, as the author
demonstrates in evidence garnered from experiments that introduce elements of fear to rats at play. The author
describes the resulting fearful behavior and quantifies the fluctuation in play that results, and then he
investigates how these are modified by increased maternal care or the use of benzodiazepines. In conclusion,
he discusses how such research can help shed light on the neurobiology underlying human anxiety disorders,
espeically in children.
Keywords
play, play studies, anxiety, neurobiology
Disciplines
Behavioral Neurobiology | Laboratory and Basic Science Research | Psychology
This article is available at The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College: http://cupola.gettysburg.edu/psyfac/9