Amygdala circuits underlying valence-specific behaviors
Author(s)
Kim, Joshua
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology.
Advisor
Susumu Tonegawa.
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Threatening and rewarding stimuli evoke a set of distinct stereotyped behaviors, which can be categorized as negative and positive valence-related behaviors, respectively. The stereotypic nature of negative and positive valence-related behaviors suggests that threatening and rewarding stimuli engage evolutionarily predetermined neural circuits in the brain. The amygdala is an important mammalian brain region that is activated by negative and positive stimuli and mediates negative and positive valence-related behaviors. The current prevailing circuit model of the amygdala mainly considers negative behaviors and only recently has cell-type specific models have been proposed. Hence, the substrates, genetically distinct neuronal populations, for negative and positive behaviors are not known. The work presented here describes a genetically-defined amygdala circuit model for negative and positive behaviors. Development of a genetic-based circuit model of the amygdala revealed anatomical and genetic circuit motifs that underlie that amygdala circuits that mediate valence-specific behaviors.
Description
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Biology, 2018. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 54-61).
Date issued
2018Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of BiologyPublisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Biology.