Making extinction last: mechanistically understanding and causally probing the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in extinction memory consolidation (C01)

• Subject Area: Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 264810226

Aim of our translational human-rodent approach is to mechanistically understand and to causally probe the role of neuronal activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC; humans) / infralimbic cortex (IL; rodents) for the consolidation of extinction memory. We will first characterize the specific temporo-spatial patterns of spontaneous (oscillatory) vmPFC/IL activity during extinction consolidation at the micro-, meso-, and macroscopic scale across species (Ca2+-Imaging, MUA, LFP, EEG, fMRI). Then, we will causally manipulate vmPFC/IL activity using TMS in humans and opto- and chemogenetic manipulations in rodents.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1193: Neurobiology of Resilience to stress-related mental dysfunction: from understanding mechanisms to promoting prevention
• Applicant Institution: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Til Ole Bergmann; Professor Dr. Raffael Kalisch; Professor Dr. Albrecht Stroh