The fast pace and increased psycho-social stress of life in developed countries is correlated with a large increase in affective disorders. Thirty-seven million Americans suffer from a form of anxiety or depression (Narrow et al., 1998; Robins and Regier, 1990). Conventional treatments are only partially successful in combating these disorders because the neural mechanisms underlying normal and pathological emotion are not fully understood. One well-established finding is that the amygdala, a cluster of deep brain nuclei, is a key structure in the complex brain circuit of emotions. In this circuit, incoming signals from all sensory modalities converge in the amygdala where they are converted into modulatory signals directed at memory structures and to autonomic centers of emotional response. The goal of this project is to use neurophysiological techniques to elucidate the neural mechanisms that underlie the differentiation of emotional stimuli, the formation of emotional memories, and the orchestration of somatic and autonomic responses in the primate amygdala
| Spitler, Kevin M; Gothard, Katalin M (2008) A removable silicone elastomer seal reduces granulation tissue growth and maintains the sterility of recording chambers for primate neurophysiology. J Neurosci Methods 169:23-6 |
