FEAR AND TRAUMA

Neurobiology of the persistence of traumatic memories

Coordinatore	ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE    more  Organization address address: BATIMENT CE 3316 STATION 1 city: LAUSANNE postcode: 1015 contact info Titolo: Prof. Nome: Carmen Cognome: Sandi Email: send email Telefono: -39583 Fax: -39685
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Switzerland [CH]
Totale costo	172˙565 €
EC contributo	172˙565 €
Programma	FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF
Funding Scheme	MC-IEF
Anno di inizio	2010
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2010-05-01   -   2011-04-30

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE  Organization address address: BATIMENT CE 3316 STATION 1 city: LAUSANNE postcode: 1015 contact info Titolo: Prof. Nome: Carmen Cognome: Sandi Email: send email Telefono: -39583 Fax: -39685	CH (LAUSANNE)	coordinator	172˙565.20

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Fearful traumatic experiences can lead to the formation of traumatic memories that are frequently associated with persistent psychopathologies. The main aim of the present proposal is to identify key neural mechanisms whereby behavioral principles which are essential for the psychological integrity of the individual, get impaired under certain emotional and stressful conditions, eventually leading to psychopathology. We hypothesize that some of the key behavioral distortions leading to emotional disturbances (e.g., generalization of conditioned fear and the inefficiency of extinction processes when applied to recent fear memories) share common underlying neurobiological mechanisms which critically involve special properties of amygdala functioning under conditions of high or extreme emotional distress. We also hypothesize that individual differences in amygdala reactivity will be implicated in individuals’ proneness to develop these behavioral distortions. By focusing on the inefficiency of extinction processes when applied to recent fear memories as a working model to understand the mediating mechanisms, we will investigate in rats the involvement of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) and of synaptic proteins (glutamate receptor subunits, cell adhesion molecules) with a role in circuit and memory formation. In addition, we aim to apply a developmental perspective to assess whether early life experiences can be effective, when reactivated in adulthood, to overcome these behavioral distortions. These objectives will be tackled by using a multidisciplinary technical approach within state-of-the-art facilities in the laboratory of Prof. C. Sandi at the Brain Mind Institute in Lausanne. This project will be a major step in my career towards becoming an independent researcher, and the ideal basis for the establishment of collaborations extremely valuable for my future career.'