Neuronal circuits mediating the behavioral switch between active avoidance and freezing.

• Grant number: 17/05082-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 08, 2017
• End date: May 07, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Newton Sabino Canteras
• Grantee: Juliette Marguerite Alix Viellard
• Supervisor: Cyril Herry
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université de Bordeaux, Carreire/Victoire, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/08640-7 - Neuronal circuits mediating the instrumental and non-instrumental avoidance, BP.DR

Abstract

It is well known that the spatial location of an individual towards a potential threat determines the nature of the fear response. Depending on the proximity of the threat, an individual may display a freezing, avoidance or a fight response. One form of avoidance that has been recently investigated is the signaled active avoidance (AA) The neural circuits implicated are now being well investigated, and at this point it remains to be understood how the BA would operate to work as a switching key to turn on and off the active avoidance. Another good candidate to mediate avoidance response is the dorsal and lateral parts of the periaqueductal gray that evokes escape responses. On the first period of the project the Fos expression in mice performing signaled active avoidance has been investigated to try to outline the brain systems likely to be involved in this response. In France it will be carried on a functional study using optogenectic tools to investigate how the selected brain sites revealed in the Fos analysis influence active avoidance responses.