IBEC Seminar: Raül Andero Galí
Thursday, November 28 @ 12:00 pm–1:30 pm
Translating fear mechanisms between humans and mice
Raül Andero Galí, PhD, ICREA Research Professor at the Institute of Neurosciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona
Sex-specific mechanisms in fear memory and extinction may explain certain neuropsychiatric disorders like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In male mice, chemogenetic silencing of centromedial amygdala (CeM)-Tac2 fibers in the lateral posterior part of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis (BNSTpl) impaired fear memory, while optogenetic excitation enhanced inhibitory postsynaptic currents. In vivo calcium imaging in freely moving mice revealed a sex-dimorphic fear memory engram in the BNSTpl. In humans, the TAC3R single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs2765) reduced CeM-BNST connectivity and impaired fear memory in men but not women. In a different study, female mice subjected to acute stress exhibited fear extinction impairments linked to hypothalamic Pacap and Pac1R upregulation. Similar fear extinction deficits were observed in women with PTSD carriers of the PAC1R SNP (rs2267735). Together, these studies highlight sex-differences in neural circuits regulating fear memory, which may influence vulnerability to PTSD.
Please contact Silvia Pittolo if you would like to meet the speaker: spittolo@ibecbarcelona.eu
