The developmental neurobiology of fear learning and memory

Our laboratory has recently focused on the broad question of developmental onset of anxiety and fear-related behaviors with translational studies related to adolescent anxiety disorders, one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders. We have identified a new “sensitive period” for fear learning during peri-adolescence in both mouse models and humans. We have also discovered a new form of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal-prefrontal cortical circuit that underlies this “sensitive period”. Our current studies consider how this heightened plasticity during adolescence contributes to differences in acquiring, expressing and regulating fear behavior.