Newtown Resident Presents Fear Conditioning Research

EASTON, PENN. — Michele Nelson, a neuroscience major at Lafayette University, recently presented research on Pavlovian eye blink and fear conditioning in rats at the Pavlovian Society Conference at Indiana University.

Michele collaborated with Gabrielle Britton, assistant professor of psychology at Lafayette University. Prof Britton received a grant form the National Institute of Health to study how the brains of animals react to both threats and “safety signals.” The findings could give insight into some anxiety-based human disorders.

The collaboration is part of Lafayette’s EXCEL Scholars program, in which students assist faculty while earning a stipend.

“Eye-blink conditioning is a model for simple forms of motor learning,” explained Prof Britton. “To understand behavior, we need to understand how the brain systems interact to produce that behavior. For example, one brain system processes emotional information, another contextual information and so on. Researchers have discovered that even many brain systems are engaged even in the simplest forms of behavior. Ultimately, this research may offer insight into how emotional behavior affects motor behavior.”

The research consisted of two stages. In the first experiment, Michele and Prof Britton paired an unconditioned stimulus, such as a mild shock or air puff, to the rat’s eye with a tone. The second part involved applying surgical lesions to the brain to modify behavior.

“Michele put together an elegant experiment,” said Prof Britton. “Over the course of training, the animal learned that the tone signals the shock, and thus the animal blinked before the shock was administered. The amount of fear expressed during the simple form of learning was assessed. Fear is operationally defined as the amount of freezing, the absence of all movement except that due to respiration.”

Michele, meanwhile, said the experience honed her research skills. “Proffessor Britton has been an exceptional mentor, always asking for my feedback and giving me the chance to add to and modify the study.”

Michele, daughter of Mary Nelson, is a peer tutor, a member of the Boys and Girls Club of Easton, a student representative for the Student Conduct Committee, and a member of Lafayette’s Activities Forum.