Neurochemical basis of fear
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1
Monash University Malaysia, Brain Research Institute, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Malaysia
Fear arises in stressful situations that are subjectively perceived as threatening, which is a conserved innate emotion expressed throughout the phyla within the vertebrates. Exposure of humans to an intensely fearful experience can lead to the development of psychological traumatic disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, which can be triggered by sight, sound and smell. Predator-derived odors can be highly effective stimuli for eliciting defensive behaviors including fear response in many vertebrates. We have demonstrated the role of a neuropeptide (kisspeptin) in the modulation of odorant (alarm substance)-evoked fear response in a specific brain area, the habenula. Odorant-signals from the olfactory sensory neurons are delivered to the habenular kisspeptin neurons via substance P (tachykinin peptide) containing neurons in the ventral telencephalon to modulate serotonin-dependent fear response. This talk will emphasize the role of kisspeptin and substance P in fear. Understanding neurochemical basis of olfactory related fear circuitry is important to develop treatments for psychological traumatic disorders.
Keywords:
Fear,
sensory neurons,
stress,
Kisspeptin,
Traumatic injury
Conference:
14th Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 27 Aug - 30 Aug, 2016.
Presentation Type:
Plenary Lecture 1
Topic:
14th Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry
Citation:
Parhar
I
(2016). Neurochemical basis of fear.
Conference Abstract:
14th Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fncel.2016.36.00001
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Received:
26 Jul 2016;
Published Online:
11 Aug 2016.
*
Correspondence:
Prof. Ishwar Parhar, Monash University Malaysia, Brain Research Institute, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, ishwar@monash.edu