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A04 – The neural mechanisms of extinction learning

Denise Manahan-Vaughan

This project will focus on the neurophysiological basis of extinction learning, particularly at the (sub)cellular levels of encoding and processing within neuronal populations. We will use electrophysiological approaches to examine the neural mechanisms and signatures of task acquisition, extinction learning and renewal in the rodent brain. Focus will be placed on the hippocampus, but its interactions with structures such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) will also be studied.

Guiding questions of A04:

  • How do neuronal oscillations change during task acquisition, effective context-dependent extinction learning and renewal of an appetitive spatial task in rodents? (Neural signatures)
  • How do place fields change when effective context-dependent extinction learning takes place? Does re-activation restore the original place field patterns? (Neural codes)
  • Do extinction-related brain structures (hippocampus, PFC) engage in ‘dialog’ at the level of neuronal oscillations during extinction? (Neural dialog)
  • To what extent do neuromodulatory structures and plasticity-related proteins contribute to the abovementioned processes? (Neural modulators)
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Denise Manahan-Vaughan

Denise Manahan-Vaughan

Projektleiterin A04

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Marta Méndez-Couz

Marta Méndez-Couz

Postdoc A04

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

10 project-relevant publications

André MA, Güntürkün O, Manahan-Vaughan D (2015) The metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGlu5, is required forextinction learning that occurs in the absence of a context change. Hippocampus. 25(2): 149–158.

André MA, Manahan-Vaughan D (2015) Involvement of Dopamine D1/D5 and D2 Receptors in Context-Dependent Extinction Learning and Memory Reinstatement. Front Behav Neurosci. 9: 372.

André MA, Wolf OT, Manahan-Vaughan D (2015) Beta-adrenergic receptors support attention to extinction learning that occurs in the absence, but not the presence, of a context change. Front Behav Neurosci. 9: 125.99

Bikbaev A, Manahan-Vaughan D (2008) Relationship of hippocampal theta and gamma oscillations to potentiation of synaptic transmission. Front Neurosci. 2(1): 56–63.

Goh JJ, Manahan-Vaughan D (2013) Spatial object recognition enables endogenous LTD that curtails LTP in the mouse hippocampus. Cereb Cortex. 23(5): 1118–1125.

Kemp A, Manahan-Vaughan D (2007) Hippocampal long-term depression: master or minion in declarative memory processes? Trends Neurosci. 30(3): 111–118.

Wiescholleck V, André MA, Manahan-Vaughan D (2014) Early age-dependent impairments of context-dependent extinction learning, object recognition, and object-place learning occur in rats. Hippocampus. 24(3): 270–279.

Zhang S, Manahan-Vaughan D (2015) Spatial olfactory learning contributes to place field formation in the hippocampus. Cereb Cortex. 25(2): 423–432.