Dr. Manish Kumar Asthana
Full member: February 2011 - January 2013
Dissertation title: Associative learning genetic modulation of extinction and reconsolidation and effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).
Abstract: In the therapy of anxiety disorders, exposure based therapies are known to be the most effective approaches. The exposure therapy is based on the phenomena of extinction, this means that a conditioned response diminish if the conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without an unconditioned stimulus (UCS). One problem with extinction as well as with exposure based therapy is the problem of reinstatement, which means the renewal of conditioned fear after successful extinction. Therefore extinction does not delete the fear memory trace. One approach which is thought to be able to solve this problem in the theory of memory consolidation (Nader 2003; Walker & Stickgold, 2005) known as reconsolidation, which could be used to inhibit the fear memory from returning. In theory the reconsolidation process means that a consolidated memory can return to a labile state, in which it can be modified, strengthened, changed or even erased (Nader, 2003; Sara, 2000). In my project I would like to investigate whether we could use another method instead of extinction training to change the activated fear memory traces. New methods such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) (Guse, Falkai, & Wobrock 2010), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (Boggio, Zaghi, & Fregni, 2009) has been found to be effective in changing brain activity and to influence memory formation (Born & Gais, 2004; Born, Marshall,Helgado´ttir, & Mölle 2006) .
Principal Investigator:
PD Dr. A. Mühlberger
Current position:
Department of Humanities & Social Sciences,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,
Kanpur-208016, INDIA
