Neural circuits of emotional memory
About
How do animals integrate new information to update previously encoded memories? What happens when this process is impaired?
The ability to adapt to a dynamic environment is a fundamental ability for survival. For this, animals need to constantly integrate new information, update their representation of the world and adjust their behavior accordingly. A fundamental aspect of this process is the ability to update previously encoded memories.
My lab combines whole-brain functional connectivity analysis with in vivo fiber photometry and closed-loop optogenetics to unravel how intense emotional memories can be attenuated. A particular focus is put on the contribution of hub structures in the midline thalamus that orchestrate the activity of distributed memory circuits in an integrated manner. In addition, we study pathological alterations within these thalamo-centered circuits in mouse models of fear-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Using a similar array of cutting-edge techniques, we aim at identifying novel strategies to revert these circuit alterations and open the path for novel therapeutic interventions.
Events
«Prosocial decision making in rodents»
«Restoring neurological functions after spinal cord injury: from mechanisms to therapies»
«A novel neuronal circuit embedded in the amygdala-accumbens pathway for fear expression»
«Deep Evolution and Conserved Brain Circuitry Across Bilaterian Animals»
«Translating fear memory mechanisms»
«Engineering brain activity patterns for therapeutics»
«Restoring access to memories thought-to-be lost in the sleep-deprived brain»
«Memory aids on the chromatin»
News
In collaboration with Luca Peruzzotti-Jametti from the University of Cambridge this review highlights novel findings around the emerging field of […]
Why are some people more altruistic than others? New research suggests that part of the answer may lie directly in […]