A2: Opioid regulation of the consolidation of conditioned fear

Emotional memories induce a complex neurotransmitter response that transforms labile learning experience into persistent memories. Project A2 aims to illuminate the underlying neuropsychopharmacological mechanisms how emotional memories become less persistent.
To this end, this project will conduct psychopharmacological, as well as neuropsychopharmacological fMRI experiments to examine the impact of the opioid and noradrenaline system on conditioned fear in humans.
This project is closely linked to other project that investigate noradrenergic arousal (B1, B2), stress (B2, B3), and the opioid system (A3), as well as fear conditioning in healthy and clinical populations (A1, C1, C2).