Susanne Meis

Research Scientist at the Institute of Physiology, Medical Faculty at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

Long-term potentiation (LTP) of glutamatergic synaptic transmission is regarded as the cellular mechanism of learning and memory. This causal relationship is best established for fear learning mediated by the amygdala, a central structure for the processing of fear memory as well as anxiety. Learning and memory as well as synaptic plasticity are controlled by several neuromodulators, for example BDNF, as well as neurotransmitters and neuropeptides. In addition, accumulating evidence indicates that inhibitory mechanisms in the amygdala contribute to important issues of fear conditioning and extinction. We therefore are interested in different aspects of the neuromodulation of amygdala function with regard to fear learning. Indeed, we could show that fear learning in the lateral central amygdala is modulated by dopamine, in line with dopamine dependence of LTP in a subset of neurons in this nucleus. In addition, inhibition mediated by extrasynaptic GABAA receptors is activated by modulatory neurotransmitters in the basal amygdala. The impact of this important constraint of amygdala function during fear learning is currently under study.

Keywords: amygdala – BDNF – synaptic plasticity – neuromodulation – GABAergic mechanisms

Location: OVGU (FME)

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