The brain contains specialized for systems that govern emotions and behavior in the presence of danger. Dysfunction of these systems may be responsible for many common psychiatric disorders, including phobia, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. A better understanding of the brain's fear systems may lead to more effective tretments for such disorders. The amygdala is well known to be an essential component of the brain's fear systems. The research proposed here will investigate the amygdala's role in two processes: (1) learning to recognize danger, and () learning to respond to danger appropriately. Rats will be trained in auditory fear conditioning, an amygdala-dependent memory task in which an innocuous auditory tone is paired with electric shock. During this task, rats learn that the tone predicts danger (the shock). The activity of neurons in the amygdala will be recorded as rats learn this task, to test whether emotional memories are stored in the amygdala by a process of Hebbian synaptic plasticity. After rats have learned the task, they will be taught to escape from the tone (which now predicts danger) by navigating through an open doorway. Neural activity will be recorded in the amygdala as rats learn to escape from the tone, to investigate how the amygdala participates in learning new responses to danger. This research may provide new insights into the neural mechanisms for emotional learning and memory.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32MH012341-02
Application #
6330235
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-7 (01))
Program Officer
Goldschmidts, Walter L
Project Start
2000-12-01
Project End
Budget Start
2000-12-01
Budget End
2001-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2001
Total Cost
$34,832
Indirect Cost
Name
New York University
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
004514360
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10012