The regulation of fear and attention: From genes to the brain to behaviour

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Exposure to dangerous events elicits fear concomitant with attentional processing of environmental stimuli accompanying those events. However this fear and attention are typically inhibited so that they are restricted to dangerous events or stimuli which signal them. This project studies the role of endogenous opioids in the inhibition of fear and threat-related attention. It studies opioid inhibition in terms of its consequences for gene transcription, learning, and attention. It will provide the first integrated analysis of fear inhibition, from the level of the gene to the brain to behaviour. Thus, the project will provide significant insights into the biological complexity underpinning vulnerability to anxiety and fear.