Conditioning-Dependent Gene Expression in the Amygdala

University Of Delaware, Newark DE

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract One of the major goals of neuroscience is to delineate the neural and molecular mechanisms important for learning and memory. A prominent type of learning is fear conditioning where one learns to be afraid of an aversive event and the signals that become associated with the event. Learning and memory of fear has important biological and psychological implications for animal survival and human interactions in society. Over the years, one part of the brain, called the amygdala, has been shown to be critical for fear learning as measured by numerous fear-related responses in animals and humans. While the amygdala is an integral part of a fear circuit or system, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of fear conditioning within the amygdala. Cascades of molecular events from neurotransmitters activating receptors and then signal transduction systems to the expression of genes and proteins are thought to underlie learning and memory. The objectives of this proposed research are to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of learning and memory of fear within the amygdala. The participation of the major transduction systems in the amygdala will be investigated by selectively inhibiting four prominent transduction pathways pharmacologically and determining whether fear conditioning and gene expression are blocked. Additional experiments will determine which types of neurons in the amygdala have these changes in gene expression. The results will contribute important advances in our understanding of sequential cellular and molecular processes that underlie the phenomenon of learning and memory of fear.