ASSOCIATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BASOLATERAL AMYGDALA

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract): The current proposal will focus on associative processes that depend on the basolateral amygdala (ABL). Second order conditioning and behaviors sensitive to reinforcement devaluation are markedly impaired by neurotoxic ABL lesions but unaffected by lesions of the amygdala central nucleus in rats. The proposed research will more fully characterize the ABL-dependent associations that underlay these behavioral functions and will investigate the neural circuitry that interconnects the ABL with prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum for its role in mediating these functions. The working hypothesis is that a CS's ability to acquire affective value, which serves as a basis for a CS's ability to serve as a secondary reinforcer, may be separable from a CS's ability to gain access to a representation of the US.