2016 Young investigator grant program: Basic research-Mental illness-General

will investigate how the brain represents contextual information to regulate emotion, a process that is disrupted in many psychiatric disorders. Using multichannel electrophysiology in monkeys, Dr. Bernardi will record single neuron activity from three brain regions—the amygdala, hippocampus, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)—associated with memory and emotion regulation, during a task that requires an understanding of context. Dr. Bernardi expects to identify different roles in context processing for each brain region, including a leadership role for the ACC, elucidating fundamental mechanisms behind emotional health that can be targeted to treat symptoms of mental illness.