BNS Faculty Search- “Behavioral, circuit, and molecular mechanisms of adolescent safety learning” by Dr. Heidi Meyer (Weill Cornell Medicine)
April 15, 2021
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Dr. Heidi Meyer (Weill Cornell Medicine) will present "Behavioral, circuit, and molecular mechanisms of adolescent safety learning" on April 15, 2021 at 4pm.
Abstract:
Fear can be highly adaptive by increasing vigilance and helping an animal avoid potential danger. However, when left unchecked, fear can result in negative health consequences and enhance risk for psychiatric disease, including anxiety disorders. Adolescence coincides with a heightened rate of diagnosis for anxiety disorders and yet standard methods of psychiatric care are often limited during this time. My research investigates processes underlying safety signal learning, a form of fear inhibition with high clinical relevance. In this talk, I will present recent research examining behavioral, circuit, and molecular mechanisms that mediate adolescent safety learning. In particular, I will discuss evidence showing that safety learning can be leveraged to markedly improve adolescent extinction memory retention. In addition, focusing within the ventral hippocampus, I will highlight a link between cortico-hippocampal activity and the strength of safety learning. Notably, age-specific elevations in connectivity during adolescence may confer an advantage for safety signal-based fear inhibition. Finally, I will present preliminary findings indicating a critical role for the growth factor, BDNF, in facilitating adolescent safety learning. Together, this research increases the mechanistic understanding of adolescent fear regulation and sets a foundation of unique translational promise for incorporating safety signals in the treatment of youth anxiety disorders.
For Zoom information, please email Emily Beaufort (ebeauf2@uic.edu)
Date posted
Apr 7, 2021
Date updated
Apr 7, 2021