Grant: Project Grant

'To approach, or not to approach?' Many situations in life induce a state of motivational conflict in us as to whether we should approach a seemingly attractive proposition or stimulus (e.g.,highly calorific chocolate cake), or whether we should avoid the very same stimulus as it may have negative consequences (e.g, weight gain). Very little is known about how the mammalian brain regulates this fundamental process of decision making that can potentially go awry in psychological disorders such as addiction, in which the 'approach' tendency takes predominant control, and others such anxiety, which involve heightened 'avoidance' tendencies. Using both rodent and human subjects, the proposed project will provide evidence that the hippocampus, a brain region more known for its importance in mnemonic processes, and its connection with other areas in the brain that are known to be important in motivational processes, comprise neural circuits that is crucial in approach-avoidance conflict resolution. This will offer a new perspective on the role of the hippocampus in decision-making processes, a capacity that is currently thought to be predominantly mediated by the medial prefrontal cortex. Furthering our understanding of the neural basis of approach avoidance conflict resolution, and the identification of differential neural pathways for the control of approach/avoidance behaviour has the potential to create new therapeutic avenues for psychological disorders in which 'approach' or 'avoidance' tendencies are aberrantly dominant.