2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Pharmacological and Optogenetic Dissection of Inferentatial Decision Making
Project/Area Number |
19K23377
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Review Section |
0110:Psychology and related fields
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Research Institution | Hokkaido University |
Principal Investigator |
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Project Period (FY) |
2019-08-30 – 2021-03-31
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Keywords | Associative learning / Pavlovian conditioning / Optogenetics / Memory engram / Fear conditioning |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
While this research has been significantly delayed due to the worldwide Covid19 pandemic situation, I established a higher-order conditioning procedure based on conditioned lick suppression paradigm from scratch (design and building of the device, and programming of the task). I already validated the procedure in a first-order conditioning procedure and obtained already encouraging preliminary data on higher-order conditioning in mice in my experimental design, and keep working on it. I hope to start manipulating neural circuits involved in higher-order conditioning within 2021.
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Free Research Field |
Behavioral Neuroscience
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Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
A disruption in associative learning processes has been associated with psychiatric disorders. First-order conditioning does not reflect real-life situations. To better approximate real-life complex situations, investigating behavioral and neural mechanisms of higher-order conditioning is necessary.
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