Grant: CIHR Fellowship

A punishment is any aversive event that an animal or human will expend energy to minimize or avoid. Aversive/stressful events are well known triggers for the onset and relapse of many psychiatric disorders (e.g. depression, addiction); there is evidence that brain circuitry involved in the processing of aversive stimuli may be impaired in these individuals. For instance, people with major depressive disorder (MDD) - which has the fastest growing disability costs to Canadian employers and is experienced by nearly 8% of Canadians (www.mooddisorderscanada.ca) - may show alterations in key brain areas associated with the processing of aversion, such as the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex. The neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA are essential to the healthy functioning of these areas. Despite recent advances, it is not yet known how these brain areas and their related neurotransmitters contribute to healthy and abnormal aversive/emotional processing. This project will combine state-of-the art brain imaging and animal-based techniques to investigate and directly compare the levels of glutamate and GABA in the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex during the presentation of aversive stimuli in humans and animals. Simultaneous investigation in humans and animals (a translational approach) will facilitate the mapping of this basic circuitry and will help to elucidate the basic processing in healthy subjects which can subsequently be extended directly to the study of subjects with neuropsychiatric disorders. This project will lead to the creation of new knowledge related to emotion-related brain functioning and may lead to the development of new drugs and therapies for psychiatric disorders such as MDD. In addition, data which results in a clearer understanding of the biologically rooted nature of psychiatric disorders may ultimately help reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.