Emotional reactions and states, such as fear, are central to adaptive behavior. Inappropriate emotion is a pervasive source and expression of mental and behavioral dysfunction. Although research with non-humans cannot deal directly with mental emotional experience, it can directly elucidate the neurobiological bases of emotional expression and thereby provide a foundation for both preventative and therapeutic approaches to emotional dysfunction in humans. Emotional reactions are based upon an individual's evaluation of his or her sensory experience, yet little is known about the sensory processing of emotion-producing stimuli. Recent studies reveal that when an animal experiences a sound which has fear- producing capabilities, the coding and representation of that fear stimulus is altered; specifically, the auditory cortex becomes """"""""re-tuned"""""""" rapidly and in an enduring manner to emphasize the processing of that stimulus. Our long-term objectives are to understand the neural bases of sensory system processing of emotional stimuli and to discover the mechanisms by which emotional stimuli are stored and often resist extinction when reactions to them are inappropriate. The specific goals of this project are to determine how the auditory cortex processes and represents specific information about fear stimuli by neurophysiological determination of frequency receptive fields and basic response area parameters for single cells in the different lamina of the cortex of guinea pigs. Subjects will be trained in two types of tasks, classical conditioning and instrumental avoidance learning, with two types of problems, single toe training and two-tone discrimination training. Thereafter, mechanisms of the fear-based cortical re-tuning will be studied by using microstimulation of an important thalamic input to the cortex, by blockade of NMDA receptors and by a combination of stimulation and NMDA receptor blockade. These findings will provide the firs systematic analysis of how information itself which is specific to fear stimuli is processed and stored in the cerebral cortex.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC002346-03
Application #
2127649
Study Section
Behavioral Neuroscience Review Committee (BNR)
Project Start
1993-09-20
Project End
1997-08-31
Budget Start
1995-09-01
Budget End
1996-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1995
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Irvine
Department
Biology
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
161202122
City
Irvine
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92697
Rutkowski, Richard G; Weinberger, Norman M (2005) Encoding of learned importance of sound by magnitude of representational area in primary auditory cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:13664-9
Rutkowski, Richard G; Miasnikov, Alexandre A; Weinberger, Norman M (2003) Characterisation of multiple physiological fields within the anatomical core of rat auditory cortex. Hear Res 181:116-30
Weinberger, Norman M (2003) The nucleus basalis and memory codes: auditory cortical plasticity and the induction of specific, associative behavioral memory. Neurobiol Learn Mem 80:268-84
Galvan, Veronica V; Weinberger, Norman M (2002) Long-term consolidation and retention of learning-induced tuning plasticity in the auditory cortex of the guinea pig. Neurobiol Learn Mem 77:78-108
Galvan, Veronica V; Chen, Jemmy; Weinberger, Norman M (2002) Differential thresholds of local field potentials and unit discharges in rat auditory cortex. Hear Res 167:57-60
McLin 3rd, Dewey E; Miasnikov, Alexandre A; Weinberger, Norman M (2002) Induction of behavioral associative memory by stimulation of the nucleus basalis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99:4002-7
McLin 3rd, Dewey E; Miasnikov, Alexandre A; Weinberger, Norman M (2002) The effects of electrical stimulation of the nucleus basalis on the electroencephalogram, heart rate, and respiration. Behav Neurosci 116:795-806
Galvan, V V; Chen, J; Weinberger, N M (2001) Long-term frequency tuning of local field potentials in the auditory cortex of the waking guinea pig. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2:199-215
Miasnikov, A A; McLin 3rd, D; Weinberger, N M (2001) Muscarinic dependence of nucleus basalis induced conditioned receptive field plasticity. Neuroreport 12:1537-42
Cruikshank, S J; Weinberger, N M (2001) In vivo Hebbian and basal forebrain stimulation treatment in morphologically identified auditory cortical cells. Brain Res 891:78-93

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