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Amygdala in Health and Disease

Gordon Research Conference

Contributions to Emotional Memories

July 12 - 17, 2009
Chairs and
Vice Chair

Conference Description

The amygdala is a cerebral structure of the temporal lobe that plays a critical role in the expression of emotions and the learning of new emotional responses. Much evidence suggests that human anxiety disorders result from anomalies in amygdala function. During the 2009 Gordon Research Conference on the amygdala, internationally renowned basic and clinical researchers will present their latest findings on the amygdala. During this conference, we will focus on research investigating the role of the amygdala in the formation and extinction of emotional memories, both normal and pathological. We will also consider the role of amygdalo-prefrontal interactions in the formation and extinction of aversive and appetitive memories. The collegial atmosphere of this Conference, with programmed discussion sessions as well as opportunities for informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, provides an avenue for scientists from different disciplines to brainstorm and promotes cross-disciplinary collaborations in the various research areas represented.

Conference Program

SUNDAY
2:00 pm - 9:00 pmArrival and Check-in (Office Closed 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm)
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmWelcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:40 pm - 9:30 pmDEVELOPMENTAL REGULATION OF FEAR LEARNING
Discussion Leader: Jocelyne Bachevalier (Emory University, Atlanta, GA)
7:40 pm - 8:05 pm C.P. Wiedenmayer (Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, NYC, NY)
"Development of fear in early life"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pm Regina M. Sullivan (The Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, NYUMC Adolescent and Child Psychiatry, NYC, NY)
"Amygdala and the ontogeny of fear learning and attachment"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pm Rick Richardson (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
"Developmental Differences in Extinction of Learned Fear"
9:15 pm - 9:25 pm Discussion
9:25 pm - 11:30 pm Informal Social
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmPLASTICITY INDUCED IN THE AMYGDALA AND RELATED STRUCTURES BY FEAR LEARNING AND STRESS
Discussion Leader: Sheena Josselyn (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada)
9:00 am - 9:25 am Pankaj Sah (University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia)
"NMDA receptors in the basolateral and central amygdala: the role NR2B subunits"
9:25 am - 9:35 am Discussion
9:35 am - 10:00 am Vadim Y. Bolshakov (McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA)
"Coincidence detection in fear conditioning pathways"
10:00 am - 10:10 am Discussion
10:10 am Coffee Break
10:45 am - 11:10 am Ki A. Goosens (Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA)
"Unique effects of chronic stress in the amygdala"
11:10 am - 11:20 am Discussion
11:20 am - 11:45 am Sumantra Chattarji (NCBS, Bangalore)
"Delayed impact of stress on the amygdala: implications for an animal model of PTSD"
11:45 am - 11:55 am Discussion
11:55 am - 12:20 pm Mike Davis (Emory University, Atlanta, GA)
"Role of the amygdala and BNST in phasic vs. sustained fear"
12:20 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmGroup Photo / Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmPRIMATE AND HUMAN AMYGDALA
Discussion Leader: Elisabeth A. Murray (NIMH, Bethesda, Maryland)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm C. Daniel Salzman (Columbia University, New York, NY)
"The representation of state value in the amygdala"
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm Discussion
8:00 pm - 8:20 pm Jocelyne Bachevalier (Emory University, Atlanta, GA)
"The development of social skills in monkeys: Effects of neonatal amygdala or Orbitofrontal cortex lesions"
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm - 8:50 pm Elizabeth A. Phelps (New York University, New York City, NY)
"Impact of memory reconsolidation on the human amygdala"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:20 pm Ralph Adolphs (University of Iowa College of Medicine, USA)
"The role of the human amygdala in emotion and social cognition"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
9:30 pm - 11:30 pm Informal Social
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmAMYGDALA AND REWARD: PREFRONTAL INTERACTIONS
Discussion Leader: Gregory J. Quirk (University of San Juan, PR)
9:00 am - 9:25 am Elisabeth A. Murray (NIMH, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland)
"Interaction of instinct, affect and action in the amygdala and orbital frontal cortex"
9:25 am - 9:35 am Discussion
9:35 am - 10:00 am Geoffrey Schoenbaum (University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD)
"Processing of rewards and reward prediction errors in the amygdala and associated brain regions"
10:00 am - 10:10 am Discussion
10:10 am Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:05 am Patricia H. Janak (UCSF, San Francisco, Emeryville, CA)
"Amygdala activity and synaptic strength predict reward learning performance: role of dopamine"
11:05 am - 11:15 am Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 6:00 pmFree Time / Optional Excursion
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmANXIETY DISORDERS: HUMAN STUDIES AND ANIMAL MODELS
Discussion Leader: Kerry J. Ressler (Emory University, Atlanta, GA)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm Lisa M. Shin (Tufts University, Boston, MA)
"Neuroimaging studies of post-traumatic stress disorder: moving beyond the identification of functional abnormalities"
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm Discussion
8:00 pm - 8:20 pm Jorge Armony (McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
"Neuroimaging studies of amygdala function in anxiety disorders"
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm - 8:50 pm Kathalin Gothard (University of Arozona, Tucson, AZ)
"Face processing in the primate amygdala: neural and autonomic correlates"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:20 pm Andrew Holmes (NIH, Rockville, MD)
"Using mouse models to uncover genetic factors driving variation in cortico-amygdala function and fear behavior"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
9:30 pm - 11:30 pm Informal Social
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmFORMATION AND CONSOLIDATION OF AVERSIVE MEMORIES
Discussion Leader: Mike Davis (Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia)
9:00 am - 9:20 am Mark Mayford (Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA)
"Probing how fear memories are represented in the amygdala using molecular techniques"
9:30 am - 9:50 am Sheena Josselyn (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
"Selective erasure of fear memory"
9:50 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am - 10:20 am Susan Sangha (Westfaelische Wilhelms-University, Muenster, Germany)
"GAD65-mediated GABAergic transmission is important for extinction of cued fear"
10:20 am - 10:30 am Discussion
10:30 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 11:20 am Fred J. Helmstetter (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
"Molecular mechanisms of memory storage and stability"
10:20 am - 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am - 11:50 am Hugh Blair (UCLA, Los Angeles, CA)
"Scariness and Scarability: Two determinants of fear behavior"
11:50 am - 12:00 pm Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:20 pm Stephane Ciocchi (Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Res., Basel, Switzerland)
"Plasticity of dis-inhibitory circuits in the central amygdala gate expression of conditioned fear"
12:20 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pmBusiness Meeting
(Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair)
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmCELLULAR AND NETWORK INTERACTIONS OF THE AMYGDALA
Discussion Leader: Pankaj Sah (University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm H.C. Pape (Westfaelische Wilhelms-University, Muenster, Germany)
"Rhythms of fear in the amygdala and beyond"
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm Discussion
8:00 pm - 8:20 pm Andrei T. Popescu (Rutgers University, Newark, NJ)
"Gamma oscillations coordinate amygdalo-striatal interactions during learning"
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm - 8:50 pm John Powers (University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia)
"Calcium dynamics in dendrites and spines of basal amygdala neurons"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:20 pm Rony Paz (Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel)
"Temporal binding in the human medial temporal lobe"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
9:30 pm - 11:30 pm Informal Social
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmEXTINCTION: EMERGING TRENDS
Discussion Leader: Rick Richardson (University of New South Wales, Australia)
9:00 am - 9:20 am Gregory J. Quirk (University of San Juan, PR)
"The Yin and Yang of prefrontal control of extinction"
9:20 am - 9:30 am Discussion
9:30 am - 9:50 am Andreas Luthi (Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Res., Basel, Switzerland)
"Dissecting neuronal circuits of fear extinction in the basal amygdala"
9:50 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am - 10:20 am Taiju Amano (Rutgers University, Newark, NJ)
"Synaptic plasticity induced by extinction training in the amygdala"
10:20 am - 10:30 am Discussion
10:30 am Coffee Break
11:00 am - 11:20 am Marie Helene Monfils (University of Texas, Austin, TX)
"Reconsolidation-extinction boundaries: key to targeting fear memories"
11:20 am - 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am - 11:50 am Satish S. Nair (University of Missouri)
"Computational models of fear extinction"
11:50 am - 12:00 pm Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:20 pm Rosalyn J. Moran (University College London, London, UK)
"New approaches to testing causal models of extinction"
12:20 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 6:00 pmFree Time / Optional Excursion
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmINVOLVEMENT OF THE AMYGDALA IN AUTISM AND ANXIETY DISORDERS
Discussion Leader: Elizabeth A. Phelps (New York University, New York City, NY)
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm David G. Amaral (University of California, Davis, CA)
"Alterations of the amygdala in autism"
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm Discussion
8:00 pm - 8:20 pm Mohamed R. Milad (Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts)
"The Neurobiology of Fear Extinction in the Human Brain: Implications to Anxiety Disorders"
8:20 pm - 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm - 8:50 pm Kerry J. Ressler (Emory University, Atlanta, GA)
"Translational research on anxiety and fear-related disorders such as PTSD"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:20 pm Kevin La Bar (Duke University, Durham, NC)
"Translational approaches to emotional memory regulation"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
9:30 pm - 11:30 pm Informal Social
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDepart

Contributors

Conference Links

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