CRC TRR 58 - A02: The role of synchronized neuronal activity for the organization of fear memory and extinction

Basic data for this project

Description

In Pavlovian fear conditioning, coherent theta activity occurs in amygdalo-hippocampal pathways during long, but not short or remote stages of fear memory retrieval and has thus been suggested a neural correlate relating to consolidation of the fear memory. Influences of the medial prefrontal cortex are important for extinction of the initial fear memory. The basic hypothesis of the present project is that the different stages of conditioned fear and extinction are organized by temporo-spatial patterns and/or the degree of coherent neural activity in the tripartite circuit comprising the amygdala (LA), hippocampus (CA1) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). This hypothesis will be tested through electrophysiological and behavioral studies in freely behaving mice. Simultaneous multiple site recordings will be used to correlate the patterns of activity with stages of conditioned and extinguished fear in theses circuits.