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，我研究了正常情况下和急性压力下的记忆等认知过程。急性应激强烈影响认知，我对发现介导这些影响的脑生理学变化很感兴趣。虽然先前的研究表明，急性应激会显著改变大脑神经元之间的交流，但在执行认知任务时，急性应激对大脑活动模式的影响尚不清楚。我的研究使用行为学、药理学和电生理技术在大鼠身上的综合方法来解决这些问题。提出的具体实验解决了四个与识别记忆有关的目标，一个判断刺激之前已经看到的过程，以及调节这种认知形式的大脑回路。我计划在行为动物中使用新的药理学工具来研究在物体识别记忆过程中神经递质受体是如何被调节的。我还将描述在急性压力下观察到的令人惊讶的表现改善，使用带有触敏屏幕的系统来测试大鼠的视觉学习和记忆。在平行实验中，我将使用电生理学测试急性应激对麻醉大鼠突触可塑性模式的影响。内源性大麻素是急性应激后大脑中释放的内源性蛋白质，在急性应激对大脑识别记忆区域突触可塑性的影响中所起的作用将被评估。我的最终目标是在大鼠进行识别记忆测试时进行电生理记录，以努力了解由于急性应激期而导致的正在进行的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有助于在正常和具有挑战性的情况下发展有关大脑机制调节认知的理论。

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.