Summary: Computer-Assisted Behavioral Assessment
of Pavlovian Fear Conditioning in Mice
Stephan G. Anagnostaras, Sheena A. Josselyn, Paul W. Frankland, and
Alcino J. Silva1
Departments of Neurobiology, Psychiatry, and Psychology
Brain Research Institute
University of California
Los Angeles, California 90095 USA
Abstract
In Pavlovian fear conditioning, a
conditional stimulus (CS, usually a tone) is
paired with an aversive unconditional
stimulus (US, usually a foot shock) in a
novel context. After even a single pairing,
the animal comes to exhibit a long-lasting
fear to the CS and the conditioning context,
which can be measured as freezing, an
adaptive defense reaction in mice. Both
context and tone conditioning depend on
the integrity of the amygdala, and context

Source: Anagnostaras, Stephan - Neurosciences Program & Department of Psychology, University of California at San Diego

Collections: Biology and Medicine