Christoph Wiedenmayer

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Animals have the ability to recognize dangerous situations and to perform appropriate fear-related responses to counter the threat. During development, fear responses undergo profound changes as the animal matures. Changes in responsivity to threatening stimuli help the growing organism to deal with environmental challenges. However, such developmental plasticity can also put the young animal at risk and result in pathological fear. In our research, we investigate the neural substrate that underlies fear behavior in early life.

First, we identify circuits in the brain that mediate fear responses in the young animal. We use ecologically relevant situations such as predator exposure or social threat to elicit fear behavior. We then use neurobiological techniques to assess brain areas and neurotransmitters that mediate fear behavior. We have found that forebrain and brainstem structures form circuits that underlie responses to threatening stimuli.

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