Cerebellar contribution to fear extinction (A21)

• Subject Area: Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 316803389

This project will investigate the role of the cerebellum through its connections to subcortical areas such as the VTA, which shapes the temporal representation of fear extinction using the classical fear conditioning paradigm. By implementing a combination of TRAP (targeted recombination in active populations), chemo-genetic and calcium imaging methods in specific cerebellar neurons of spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 and control mice, we will investigate the hypothesis that the cerebellum contributes to the temporal processing of prediction errors during fear extinction via its connections to the VTA. The project investigates the role of the cerebellum in associative motor learning and in the formation of absence seizures in mouse models with P/Q-type calcium channel mutations. Another focus is on monoaminergic neuronal networks and their involvement in diseases.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1280: Extinction Learning
• Applicant Institution: Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Melanie D. Mark