Innovating Works

PoMAM

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ENGRAMS IN TRAUMATIC MEMORY: FINDING NOVEL THERAPEUTIC AVENUES IN DEPRESSION AND...
Despite 70% of people are going to experience a traumatic event throughout life, only 3.9% are going to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Curiously, people who develop PTSD also present a higher risk of developing Maj... Despite 70% of people are going to experience a traumatic event throughout life, only 3.9% are going to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Curiously, people who develop PTSD also present a higher risk of developing Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Thus, 50-70% of PTSD patients will live with a diagnostic of MDD, which in terms of prognosis means poor response to treatment and worse symptomatology. Despite the clinical relevance of this comorbidity, it remains unknown if there are shared molecular mechanisms. Impairments in fear memory and learning were related to PTSD and MDD, in association with atrophy and synaptic loss in the hippocampus (HPC). In turn, the HPC plays a crucial role in fear memory, encoding the contextual information related to the fearful stimulus. Thus, we propose that maladaptive fear memory due to hippocampal dysfunction can also contribute to MDD, explaining the high co-morbidity between PTSD and MDD. Importantly, preclinical research focus on fear memory have provided us with promising knowledge for potential PTSD therapeutics. For instance, the regulation of glucocorticoids in the golden hours after trauma to prevent memory consolidation, the use of beta-adrenergic blockers to disrupt consolidated memories, or different psychotherapeutic approaches to enhanced memory extinction. Recently, the advances with chemo- and optogenetic technics have allowed the identification and functional modulation of neurons involved in encoding a specific memory (engrams), thereby allowing a highly refined study of memory substrates. Despite these advances, the use of such approaches in genetic animal models for the study of psychiatric comorbidities is still poorly explored. We believe that this combination can bring new insights and methodological possibilities for the field. In parallel, increase our understanding about the basis of PTSD and MDD can provide new therapeutical targets with direct implications for human health. ver más
31/08/2025
AU
231K€
Perfil tecnológico estimado
Duración del proyecto: 27 meses Fecha Inicio: 2023-05-08
Fecha Fin: 2025-08-31

Línea de financiación: concedida

El organismo HORIZON EUROPE notifico la concesión del proyecto el día 2023-05-08
Línea de financiación objetivo El proyecto se financió a través de la siguiente ayuda:
HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01-01: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022
Cerrada hace 2 años
Presupuesto El presupuesto total del proyecto asciende a 231K€
Líder del proyecto
AARHUS UNIVERSITET No se ha especificado una descripción o un objeto social para esta compañía.
Perfil tecnológico TRL 4-5