NEURAL CORRELATES OF EMOTIONAL LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR

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Dysfunction in neural circuits within the limbic system has been implicated in the pathophysiology of many psychiatric diseases, such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia. Indeed, psychiatric illness is frequently in part characterized by patients' having abnormal emotional, or affective, responses to sensory stimuli, events, and memories. The primary goal of this research program is to study the manner in which sensory stimuli are endowed with affective significance to produce emotional behavior. Within the limbic system, the amygdala appears to play a prominent role in mediating emotional responses to sensory stimuli. The specific aim of this proposal investigates amygdala neural responses to visual stimuli that have acquired affective significance through Pavlovian conditioning in monkeys performing an emotional learning behavioral paradigm. In addition , psychophysiological recordings will be obtained during task measurements of psychophysiological parameters. In this manner, neural correlates of emotional learning and behavior will be sought. The second specific aim of this proposal involves recording the activity of neurons in area TE of inferotemporal cortex while monkeys perform the same emotional learning paradigm. Again, psychophysiological recordings will be obtained simultaneous to the neurophysiological recordings. Area TE is the primary source of unimodal visual inputs to the amygdala, and the amygdala sends back projects to TE. Previous studies in TE have suggested that it is involved in representing and remembering visual objects. A fundamental question in visual neurosciences to what extent affective value is inextricably linked to the basic representation of visual objects in the cortex. These experiments will address this question by determining the extent of affective signals present in TE. Ultimately, the experiments will address this question by determining the extent of affective signals present in TE. Ultimately, the approach taken in this project may provide the opportunity to improve understanding of psychiatric treatments by investigating how pharmacological interventions influence neural responses and emotional behavior in the alert monkey. The long-term career goal of the investigator is to establish a research program investigating the neural basis of emotions and emotional behavior. Stanford University and the laboratory of Dr. William Newsome, combined with the co-mentorship of Dr. Joseph LeDoux at New York University, provide a rich intellectual environment for the candidate to develop into an independent investigator. Participation in seminar, journal clubs, courses, scientific presentation sessions, and informal discussions with a large variety of faculty and trainees will form the basis of an intensive training program