CAREER: Brain Mechanisms of Conditioned Stimulus Processing

University Of Vermont & State Agricultural College, Burlington VT

Investigators

Abstract

The educational component of this Early Career project is designed to enrich undergraduate neuroscience education at the University of Vermont. The educational activities will increase the exposure of undergraduates to neuroscience and foster the development of professional skills. First, a Behavioral Neuroscience Research Series will be incorporated into introductory psychology classes to provide early exposure to research opportunities. An upper-level Neuroscience Seminar will be developed, focusing on current "hot" topics in neuroscience selected from the list of Symposia scheduled for the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. Students will also accompany Dr. Bucci to the Annual Meeting. A third activity involves increasing undergraduate participation in research by supporting student research projects in Dr. Bucci's laboratory. Lastly, an Undergraduate Neuroscience Club will be established to enhance interaction among neuroscience students and to foster the development of scientific and professional skills. The research component of the project will test hypotheses concerning the involvement of multiple brain systems in processing environmental stimuli. Animals are routinely bombarded by numerous stimuli, and it is believed that the extent to which a stimulus is processed, or attended to, influences how much learning will occur. The ability to alter levels of stimulus processing has adaptive value in that it permits an individual to actively devote resources to learning about cues that are behaviorally important while ignoring unimportant cues. The first phase of the project will test the hypothesis that two competing brain systems are involved in increasing the processing of important stimuli versus decreasing the processing of irrelevant stimuli. Subsequent studies will determine if and how these processing pathways interact, using both lesion approaches and monitoring neural activity in specific brain regions. The planned studies will inform theories of learning as well as provide valuable insight into the brain mechanisms of stimulus processing and memory.