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Research Interests: My research interests focus on the brain structures involved in forming emotional memories, the cellular mechanisms responsible for creating these memories, and disorders related to emotional stress, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The long-term goal of the reseach is to provide better understanding of the neurobiology of emotionally-induced anxiety disorders and identify behavioral and pharmacological interventions that can help subjects cope better with emotional trauma. We use an integrated research approach that combines behavioral assessment, intracranial pharmacological manipulations and a highly sensitive cellular imaging method, called Arc/H1a catFISH. This method (Vazdarjanova et al., 2002) capitalizes on the temporal dynamics of expression of two plasticity-related immediate-early genes, Arc and Homer 1a, to reveal differences of network activation by two separate behavioral events. Using Arc/H1a catFISH we are able to assess which neuronal networks change when an animal learns to associate emotional and sensory stimuli. We study individual susceptibility to trauma-induced behaviors in a rat model which we have recently developed. Arc/H1a catFISH: a method to compare the neuronal ensembles activated by two separate behavioral events. Neurons activated by a learning episode that occurred 5-15 minutes before tissue harvesting have Arc foci of transcription in the nucleus (panel A, red dots in the blue nucleus). Neurons activated by a learning episode that occurred 20-40 minutes before tissue harvesting (B) have Arc RNA in the cytoplasm (red staining around the nucleus) and H1a foci of transcription (green dots in the nucleus). Neurons activated by both episodes have both (C). Identifying activated neuronal ensembles with Arc/H1a catFISH is unambiguous, because the appearance of Arc and H1a foci does not overlap in time.
A-C: Double fluorescence in-situ hybridization for Arc (red, CY3) and H1a (green, FITC) mRNA in hippocampal cells. Nuclei are counterstained with DAPI. The smaller, brightly and uniformly stained nuclei are glia. Each field is ~40 um wide. The appearance of Arc and H1a foci of transcription does not overlap in time. Rats explored and learned about a new place for 5 min and tissue was harvested at 0, 8, 16, 25, 35 or 45 minutes after the end of exploration. Control tissue was collected from rats resting in their cages (Cg). People in the laboratory:
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Vazdarjanova Neurotree entry