Acute stress effects on cognition and synaptic plasticity.

我的研究项目的目标是了解经验对认知和大脑生理的影响。为此，我研究了认知过程，如在正常条件下和急性压力下的记忆。急性压力强烈影响认知，我有兴趣发现大脑生理学的变化，介导这些影响。虽然之前的研究表明，急性压力会极大地改变大脑神经元之间的交流，但在执行认知任务时，急性压力对大脑活动模式的影响尚不清楚。我的研究采用了一种综合的方法与行为，药理学和电生理技术在大鼠中来解决这些问题。提出的具体实验解决了与识别记忆有关的四个目标，这是一个刺激被判断为以前见过的过程，以及介导这种认知形式的大脑回路。我计划研究如何在动物行为中使用新的药理学工具在物体识别记忆过程中调节神经递质受体。我还将描述使用具有触摸敏感屏幕的系统来测试大鼠的视觉学习和记忆，在急性应激后观察到的表现的惊人改善。在平行实验中，我将使用麻醉大鼠的电生理学测试急性应激对突触可塑性模式的影响。将评估内源性大麻素（急性应激后大脑中释放的内源性蛋白质）在急性应激对参与识别记忆的大脑区域中突触可塑性的影响中的作用。我的最终目标是在大鼠进行识别记忆测试的同时进行电生理记录，以了解急性压力时期导致的持续大脑活动的具体变化。对急性应激对记忆的基本行为和电生理影响的综合理解将允许关于在正常和具有挑战性的情况下介导认知的大脑机制的理论的发展。

The goal of my research program is to understand the effects of experience on cognition and the physiology of the brain. To this end, I examine cognitive processes such as memory under normal conditions and following acute stress. Acute stress strongly influences cognition and I am interested in discovering the changes in brain physiology that mediate these influences. While previous research shows that acute stress dramatically alters the communication between neurons in the brain, the effects of acute stress on patterns of brain activity while cognitive tasks are being performed are unknown. My research uses an integrative approach with behavioural, pharmacological, and electrophysiological techniques in rats to address these questions. The specific experiments proposed address four objectives related to recognition memory, a process whereby a stimulus is judged to have been seen previously, and the brain circuits that mediate this form of cognition. I plan to examine how neurotransmitters receptors are regulated during object recognition memory using novel pharmacological tools in behaving animals. I will also characterize the surprising improvement in performance observed following acute stress using a system with touch sensitive screens to test visual learning and memory in rats. In parallel experiments, I will test the effects of acute stress on patterns of synaptic plasticity using electrophysiology in anesthetized rats. The role of endocannabinoids, endogenous proteins released in the brain following acute stress, in the effects acute stress on synaptic plasticity in the brain areas involved in recognition memory will be assessed. My final objective is to conduct electrophysiological recordings while rats perform the recognition memory tests in an effort to understand the specific alterations in on-going brain activity that result from periods of acute stress. An integrated understanding of the fundamental behavioural and electrophysiological effects of acute stress on memory will allow the development of theories regarding the brain mechanisms mediating cognition in both normal and challenging circumstances.