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SUMMARY:Fearful Brains in an Anxious World - Professor Joseph Ledoux\, New
  York University\, USA
DTSTART:20090428T160000Z
DTEND:20090428T170000Z
UID:TALK17734@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Hannah Critchlow
DESCRIPTION:This lecture is free to attend and no registration is required
 .\n\nFear and anxiety are normal adaptive functions of the brain. However\
 , millions of people suffer from excessive or inappropriate fear and anxie
 ty. Research on the brain mechanisms of fear and anxiety gives us clues ab
 out how these normally function\, what changes in the brain when they malf
 unction\, and how specific malfunctions might be most effectively treated.
   Better control of inappropriate and excess fear and anxiety would improv
 e health and well-being\, both for individuals and societies.  While some 
 fears are innate\, most of the things that threaten well-being in modern l
 ife are based on learning.  Indeed\, in dangerous situations we learn rapi
 dly and form persistent memories. Specifically\, associations are formed b
 etween painful or aversive stimuli and other stimuli present at the time. 
  This form of learning is called Pavlovian fear conditioning.  The neural 
 system underlying fear conditioning crucially synaptic plasticity in the l
 ateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA).  The cellular and molecular signals t
 hat underlie the formation and storage of memory in the LA are well unders
 tood.  As more is learned\, it may be possible to apply this knowledge to 
 the treatment and prevention of disorders related to fear and anxiety. Rec
 ent studies on individual differences in fear\, the transition from reacti
 on to action\, and reconsolidation of fear memory will be emphasized.\n\nJ
 oseph E. LeDoux (b. December 7\, 1949 in Eunice\, Louisiana) received his 
 Ph.D. in 1977 from the State University of New York at Stony Brook\, NY. H
 e was a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University Medical College (New Yor
 k\, NY)\, where he was made an Assistant Professor in 1980 and an Associat
 e Professor in 1986. Professor LeDoux then moved to New York University's 
 Center for Neural Science where he was promoted to Full Professor in 1991.
  Since 1996 he has been the “Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science\,
 ” and since 2005 he has held the title of "University Professor". \nLeDo
 ux's work has focused on the study of the neural basis of emotions\, espec
 ially fear and anxiety. His work has elaborated in detail how the brain de
 tects and responds to danger\, and learns and forms memories about threats
 .  For more information\, visit www.cns.nyu.edu/ledoux.\n\nOver the course
  of his career LeDoux has received a number of awards\, including the Fyss
 en Foundation International Prize in Cognitive Science\, the Jean-Louis Si
 gnoret Prize from IPSEN Foundation\, consecutive MERIT Awards and Research
  Scientist Awards from the National Institute of Mental Health\, the Donal
 d O. Hebb Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions from the Americ
 an Psychological Association\, and a Presidential Citation for contributio
 ns to the study of the emotional brain from the American Psychological Ass
 ociation.  LeDoux sits on the editorial board of several journals and has 
 given the Society for Neuroscience Presidential Lecture. He is a Fellow of
  the American Association for the Advancement of Science\, a Fellow of the
  New York Academy of Sciences\, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Ar
 ts and Sciences.  \n\nJoseph LeDoux is also a member of The Amygdaloids\, 
 a band of scientists that plays original songs about mind and brain and me
 ntal disorders\, the lyrics of which are often inspired by his research. S
 ince band formed in 2006 they have played at Madison Square Garden\, The J
 ohn F. Kennedy Center\, The 92nd Street Y\, and numerous rock clubs in NYC
 . The Amygdaloids released their first CD\, Heavy Mental\, in 2008 and is 
 scheduled to release Brainstorm in March 2009. Information about the band 
 is available at www.cns.nyu.edu/ledoux/amygdaloids and at www.myspace.com/
 amygdaloids\n
LOCATION:Main Physiology Lecture Theatre\, Department of Physiology\, Deve
 lopment and Neuroscience\, Physiology Building\, Downing Site
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