Fear, Defense & Associative Regulation

在许多情况下，恐惧是一种后天的反应。这项研究项目试图了解这些后天恐惧背后的神经生物学机制。其中一项研究考察了N-甲基-d-天冬氨酸受体的操作，以确定它们是否参与了恐惧记忆的编码，而不是记忆的巩固、提取或行为表现。这种受体很有趣，因为它与神经元的某些变化有关，可能为神经系统提供一种存储信息的方式。第二项研究探讨了内源性阿片类药物(内啡肽)在恐惧学习中的作用。恐惧会导致内啡肽的释放，而内啡肽反过来又会限制或调节额外的学习。这一规则通常会导致控制恐惧的程度，因此恐惧的程度对于特定的情况是合适的。

In many situations fear is a learned response. This research project seeks to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these learned fears. One line of research examines manipulations of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors to see if they are involved in encoding of fear memory as opposed to memory consolidation, retrieval or behavioral performance. This receptor is interesting because it has been implicated in certain changes in neurons that may provide a way for the nervous system to store information. The second line of research explores the role of endogenous opioids (endorphins) in fear learning. Fear causes release of endorphins and these endorphins in turn limit or regulate additional learning. This regulation normally results in controlling the magnitude of fear, so that the amount of fear is appropriate for the particular circumstance.