Amygdala-mediated enhancement of the hippocampal memory system

描述(申请人提供)：杏仁核和海马体记忆系统之间的相互作用被认为对中度情绪唤醒可能导致的记忆增强以及极端情绪唤醒可能导致的记忆障碍(如创伤后应激障碍)具有重要意义。直接激活大鼠杏仁核基底外侧复合体(BLA)可以增强对情绪和中性事件的记忆，这表明杏仁核-海马体的相互作用具有普遍的记忆增强能力。因此，了解BLA的直接激活如何影响海马记忆系统将是理解内源性记忆增强的基本机制的基础，并将与情感性障碍的记忆功能障碍相关。在五年的时间里，拟议的实验预计将有助于培养一名博士后研究员、两名博士生和五名本科生。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Interactions between the amygdala and the hippocampal memory system are thought to be important for the memory enhancement that can result from moderate emotional arousal and for the memory dysfunction that can result from extreme emotional arousal, such as what occurs in post-traumatic stress disorder. Direct activation of the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA) in rats can enhance memory for both emotional and neutral events, suggesting that amygdala-hippocampal interactions wield a generalized memory- enhancing capacity. Thus, understanding how direct BLA activation impacts the hippocampal memory system will be fundamental to understanding basic mechanisms of endogenous memory enhancement and will be relevant to memory dysfunction in affective disorders. Over the five-year period, the proposed experiments are expected to contribute to the training of one postdoctoral fellow, two doctoral students, and five undergraduate students.