| REU 2008 - Mentor abstract |
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Jonathan Gewirtz
Psychology and Neuroscience
The focus of Dr. Gewirtz’s research is to investigate biological processes underlying memory, fear and anxiety, and drug dependence. He uses Pavlovian conditioning paradigms, specializing in particular on the use of "fear-potentiated" startle, the elevation in the amplitude of an acoustically elicited startle response when a subject is in a state of fear. His lab has also developed a measure of “withdrawal-potentiated” startle, an increase in startle amplitude during drug withdrawal. Potentiated startle is especially well suited for investigating the neural substrates of anxiety and drug dependence. Not only does it involve modulation of a simple, well-characterized reflex that can be measured both easily and objectively, but the circuitry through which this modulation occurs has also been identified. In addition, it can be observed reliably and objectively in humans as well as in other mammalian species. This allows for an usual degree of integration between rodent and human neurobiological research.
- Burman, M.A., & Gewirtz, J.C. (2004). Timing of fear expression in trace and delay conditioning measured by fear-potentiated startle in rats. Learning and Memory, 11, 205-212.
- Harris, A.C., & Gewirtz, J.C. (2004). Elevated startle during withdrawal from acute morphine: A model of opiate withdrawal and anxiety. Psychopharmacology, 171, 140-147.
- Harris, A.C., Atkinson, D.B.., Aase, D.M., & Gewirtz, J.C. (2006). Double dissociation in the neural substrates of acute opiate dependence as measured by withdrawal-potentiated startle. Neuroscience, 139, 1201-1210.
- Burman, M.A., & Gewirtz, J.C. (2007). Hippocampal activity, but not plasticity, is required for early consolidation of fear conditioning with a short trace interval. European Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 2483-2490.
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