A developmental and neural analysis of learned and unlearned fear

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This project aims to increase our understanding of the emotion of fear from both a developmental and a neural perspective. Anxiety disorders, which are characterised by the inability to appropriately regulate fear, are among the most prevelant psychological disturbances in industrialised countries. The present project involves a neurobiological analysis of fear in the developing rat, and will (i) test the dominant theoretical models of learned fear, (ii) compare the development of learned and unlearned fear, and (iii) provide a novel approach for studying whether learned behavioural responses are appropriate to the age of training or the age of testing.