Amygdala Mediated Enhancement of Object Recognition Memory in the Hippocampus

描述(由申请者提供)：大量文献表明情绪调节记忆。适度的情绪唤醒可以增强记忆，但极度的情绪唤醒会削弱记忆，并可能与创伤后应激障碍等临床障碍有关。大量研究表明，杏仁核是协调对情绪的认知和生理反应的关键中枢，包括调节记忆的反应。从杏仁核到海马体的投射在一定程度上负责增强海马体依赖记忆，例如新物体识别。该项目将阐述杏仁核的输入如何调节海马体中的神经元活动，以增强记忆。具体地说，电刺激杏仁核基底核将与海马区的神经记录相结合，以研究杏仁核向海马区的投射如何增强海马区的记忆表征。预期结果将与增强记忆的潜在治疗策略以及杏仁核-海马体异常相互作用被认为普遍存在的障碍有关，包括创伤后应激障碍。拟议的研究项目还将作为申请者培训计划的框架，该计划专门设计用于将杏仁核-海马体相互作用的基础研究与申请者的职业目标相结合，即成为一名内科科学家，重点是精神疾病的神经外科治疗。 公共卫生相关性：当前项目的目标是了解海马体和杏仁核之间的相互作用，以增强记忆。了解这种正常的相互作用将为记忆障碍以及精神障碍的临床治疗提供见解，如创伤后应激障碍，这些疾病被认为涉及杏仁核和海马体之间的功能障碍。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An extensive body of literature indicates that emotion modulates memory. Moderate levels of emotional arousal enhance memory, but extreme levels of emotional arousal impair memory and might be related to clinical disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Numerous studies indicate that the amygdala is a crucial hub for coordinating both the cognitive and physiological responses to emotion, including the responses that modulate memory. Projections from the basal nucleus of the amygdala to the hippocampus are in part responsible for enhancing hippocampus dependent memory, such as novel object recognition. The project will address how the input from the amygdala modulates neuronal activity in the hippocampus in the service of enhancing memory. Specifically, electrical stimulation of the basal nucleus of the amygdala will be combined with neural recordings in the hippocampus in order to investigate how the amygdala projections to the hippocampus can enhance memory representations in the hippocampus. The expected outcomes will be relevant to potential therapeutic strategies for memory enhancement as well as to disorders in which abnormal amygdalo-hippocampal interactions are thought to be prevalent, including post-traumatic stress disorder. The proposed research project will also serve as a framework for the applicant's training plan, which was specifically designed to integrate basic research on amygdalo-hippocampal interactions with the applicant's career goal of becoming a physician-scientist whose focus will be neurosurgical treatments of psychiatric disorders. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of the current project is to understand interactions between the hippocampus and the amygdala in the service of enhancing memory. Understanding this normal interaction will provide insights regarding clinical treatments for memory disorders as well as psychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, that are thought to involve dysfunctional interactions between the amygdala and hippocampus.