Event Details:
Stanford Neurosciences Institute Seminar Series Presents
Limbic-cortical interactions underlying avoidance behavior
Joshua Gordon, MD Ph.D
Director of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Host: Amit Etkin
Abstract
We and others have demonstrated that interactions between the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex play an important role in avoidance behavior in rodents. In particular, we found enhanced synchrony between these two structures during exposure to environments in which anxiety-related avoidance behavior is induced. I will present data from experiments that used optogenetic interrogation of the hippocampal-prefrontal circuit to determine the causal relationships between specific patterns of neural synchrony in this circuit and avoidance behavior.