Description:

The Department of Pharmacology invites you to a guest speaker lecture presented by Francesco Ferraguit, M.D., Professor & Head of the Department of Pharmacology at Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria.

Below is an overview as decribed by Dr. Ferraguti:

The intercalated cell masses (ITC) of the amygdala are a network of interconnected medium spiny GABAergic neurons organized in distinct clusters surrounding the basolateral complex. Our work has revealed an unexpected complexity in the pattern of axonal projections of these neurons and suggested the presence of distinct subpopulations. Functionally, we showed a distinctive participation of ITC clusters to different fear states and that the dorsomedial ITC cluster is an important site of convergence for glutamatergic sensory inputs besides the lateral amygdala nucleus. In addition, we provide evidence for complex intrinsic microcircuits involving large neurons encircling the medium spiny cells. These large ITC neurons also receive sensory inputs from the thalamus and respond in vivo to noxious stimuli. We propose that the ITC take part in fear learning-modulated feed-forward and feedback inhibitory circuits to simultaneously control amygdala input and output nuclei and to regulate the formation and expression of fear memories.