Grant: Operating Grant

Some people can remember important past events much more easily and vividly than others. Such a capacity for emotional memory may be linked to anxiety, and can influence susceptibility to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent research suggests that some of this difference in memory capacity may be genetic. Understanding genetic influences on the capacity for emotional memory has tremendous implications for understanding normal human memory as well as pathological reactions to traumatic stress, which can differ across individuals even when they are exposed to the same events. Certain genetic polymorphisms, or commonly found variations in genes, have been found to influence brain processes linked to differences in emotional memory, and may render individuals more vulnerable to negative life experiences. However, it is still not known what aspects of memory formation and recollection are influenced by those genetic variations, nor how they interact with life experience to influence emotional memory. In this study, we propose to use state of the art genotyping techniques to probe links between genotype and brain activity while laying down and reinforcing memory for emotional events. This work will provide new data on how genetic variability in neurochemical activity alters both behavior and brain activity underlying emotional influences on perception and memory. In this way we can better understand how genetic differences, in interaction with life experience, may influence aspects of attention and emotion that lead to healthy and pathological responses to stressful events.