Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Neuroscience

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear

Daniela Schiller¹, Candace M. Raio², Elizabeth A. Phelps³

¹Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, and Friedman Brain Institute, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, ²Department of Psychology, New York University , ³Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University

Conditioned fear can be diminished through an inhibitory process called extinction, but can resurface under conditions such as the passage of time or exposure to stress. Our protocol presents a novel way of preventing fear recovery by introducing extinction during the reconsolidation window (the re-storage phase of a reactivated memory).

Neuroscience

Monitoring Changes in the Intracellular Calcium Concentration and Synaptic Efficacy in the Mollusc Aplysia

Bjoern Ch. Ludwar¹, Colin G. Evans^1,2, Elizabeth C. Cropper¹

¹Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, ²Phase Five Communications Inc.

We demonstrate how changes in the intracellular free calcium concentration and synaptic efficacy can be simultaneously monitored in a ganglion preparation of Aplysia. We image intracellular calcium using a fluorescent dye, Calcium Orange, and induce and monitor synaptic transmission with sharp (intracellular) electrodes.