Dr. Fanselow’s laboratory is generally interested in learning, memory and motivation and particularly in the nature and function of fear and emotional memories. We are motivated by questions such as: How does the brain process fear-provoking information and what neurobiological changes lead to the formation and storage of fear memories? More than simply tracing the anatomical circuits and neurotransmitter systems mediating fear, we are trying to determine the specific contributions that different components of the circuit contribute to the complete experience of an emotional memory. For example, the hippocampus is not always involved in the expression of fear; it seems to come into play when fear is triggered by the memory of the context or episode of an aversive experience and not when a simple association generates fear. The amygdala seems to encode the emotional features of an aversive experience. The anterior cingulate cortex seems to be involved in attentional processes necessary for more complex forms of conditional fear. The midbrain periaqueductal gray organizes how fear is translated into specific behavior patterns. While glutamate is the critical neurotransmitter for the creation of fear memories, GABA, endogenous opioids, acetylcholine and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) all regulate fear learning. We have laboratory projects directed at all of these subsystems. The laboratory uses rat and mouse models featuring site-specific pharmacological manipulations, focal brain lesions and genetic modifications. Much of the current work examines behavior in genetically modified mice. But our mission is to use every technique available to derive a complete understanding of fear-motivated learning, memory and behavior.

Selected Publications:
Rau, V. & Fanselow, M. S. (2007) Neurobiological and neuroethological perspectives on fear and anxiety. In L. J. Kirmayer, R. Lemelson, & M. Barad, Understanding Trauma: Integrating biological, clinical, and cultural perspectives (pp. 27-40). Cambridge University Press: New York.

Wiltgen BJ, Sanders MJ, Anagnostaras SG, Sage JR, Fanselow MS. Context fear learning in the absence of the hippocampus. J Neurosci. 2006 May 17;26(20):5484-91.

Gale, G. D., Anagnostaras, S. G., Godsil, B. P., Mitchell, S., Nozawa, T., Sage, J. R., Wiltgen, B., Fanselow, M. S. (2004) Role of the Basolateral Amygdala in the Storage of Fear Memories across the Adult Lifetime of Rats. J. Neurosci. 2004 24: p. 3810-3815.

Fanselow MS, LeDoux JE. Why we think plasticity underlying Pavlovian fear conditioning occurs in the basolateral amygdala. Neuron. 1999; 23:229-232.

Fendt M, Fanselow MS. The neuroanatomical and neurochemical basis of conditioned fear. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 1999; 23:743-760.

Li HH, Yu W-H, Rozengurt N, Zhao H-Z, Lyons KM, Anagnostaras S, Fanselow MS, Suzuki K, Vanier MT, Neufeld EF. Mouse model of Sanfilippo syndrome type B produced by targeted disruption of the gene encoding alpha -N-acetylglucosaminidase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 1999; 96:14505-14510.

For more information see our website - NIH Neuroscience Seminar Series