Emotion and Cognition on Gene, Cell, and Systems Levels

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks continuation funding for a Specialized Neuroscience Research Program (SNRP) at this minority serving institution. Whereas the goals of the SNRP during the previous funding period were to increase Neuroscience research capacity on this campus, the present application seeks to build on that previous success by establishing a focused and coordinated, team research, program. This program will address "Emotion and cognition on gene, cell and systems levels", with a primary focus on the effects of stress and anxiety on emotion and cognition, recognizing that increased understanding of these interactions is of major importance to human health. The proposal brings together a wide range of interdisciplinary experience (including psychiatry, psychology, molecular biology, neuroimaging, genetics, neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology, electrophysiology, biochemistry and animal behavior) to address four specific aspects of this overall problem, utilizing both human subjects and animal models (Aim 1). Nevertheless, the demands of team research will be balanced by the need to provide a carefully constructed program that fosters individual academic development of SNRP participants at all levels (Aim 2). Additionally, this proposal will attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of team research in the biomedical sciences, such as to stimulate additional team research efforts in this area (Aim 3). Finally, this proposal seeks to generate a strong and cohesive academic and research training "center" for the Neurosciences at this University (Aim 4), such that this University will become known over time as a national and international resource for Neuroscience research and training. Titles of the specific projects are: Stress-induced CRF actions on fear and anxiety; Stress effects on amygdalar CRF and emotion; Methamphetamine psychosis: a model in man and mouse; CRF systems and defensive behavior. The proposal provides a Peptide and DNA Technology Core to support these projects.