Glenn Schafe



Assistant Professor (Ph.D., 1997, University of Washington)

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My lab studies the neurobiological substrates of learning and memory, with particular emphasis on Pavlovian fear conditioning. This type of associative learning has gained much attention from both basic and clinical neuroscientists over the last half decade, not only because of its simplicity and tractability as a neurobiological model of learning and memory, but also because of its potential relevance to various psychological disorders, including post-traumatic stress and panic disorders in which acquired fear appears to play a prominent role. Specifically, I am interested in the cellular and/or biochemical events that contribute to fear memory consolidation, or the process by which short-term fear memories are transformed in the brain, over time, into stable, long-term memories. Much of this work has focused on the amygdala, a temporal lobe structure that has been implicated in emotion and emotional learning for many years. Work in my lab utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to the study of fear memory formation in the amygdala and other relevant brain areas that includes behavioral, anatomical, electrophysiological, and biochemical techniques.

Ploski, J.E., Pierre, V.J., Smucny, J., Park, K., Monsey, M.S., Overeem, K.A. & Schafe, G.E. (2008). Activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc/Arg3.1) is required for memory consolidation of Pavlovian fear conditioning in the lateral amygdala. The Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 12383-12395.

Ota, K.T., Pierre, V.J., Ploski, J.E., Queen, K. & Schafe, G.E. (2008). The NO-cGMP-PKG signaling pathway regulates fear memory consolidation and synaptic plasticity in the lateral amygdala via activation of ERK/MAP kinase. Learning & Memory, 15, 792-805.

Schafe, G.E., Swank, M.W., Rodrigues, S.M., Dębiec, J., & Doyère, V. (2008). Phosphorylation of ERK/MAP kinase is required for long-term potentiation in anatomically restricted regions of the lateral amygdala, in vivo. Learning & Memory, 15, 55-62.

Schafe, G.E., Doyère, V., LeDoux, J.E. (2005). Tracking the fear engram: The lateral amygdala is an essential locus of fear memory storage. The Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 10010-15.

Apergis-Schoute, A.M., Dębiec, J., Doyère, V., LeDoux, J.E., & Schafe, G.E. (2005). Auditory fear conditioning and LTP in the lateral amygdala require ERK/MAP kinase signaling in the auditory thalamus: A role for pre-synaptic plasticity in the fear system. The Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 5730-39.