Cell type-specificity of endocannabinoid signaling in amygdala-BNST projections regulating sustained fear (A04)

• Subject Area: Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2008 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 44541416

Fear conditioning with unpredictable stimuli evokes sustained fear behaviour, a process which is dependent on endocannabinoid signalling and cannabinoid CB1 receptor within circuits of the basal and central amygdala to the extended amygdala. This project aims at characterizing the precise cell types where the endocannabinoid signalling within these brain structures is responsible for sustained fear, using conditional cell-type specific CRISPR-based genome editing, optogenetic methods and electrophysiology.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 58: Fear, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders
• Applicant Institution: Universität Münster
• Co-Applicant Institution: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Beat Lutz; Professor Dr. Hans-Christian Pape