[POSTPONED] Killam Seminar Series: Cell Types in the Mouse Amygdala and Their Transcriptional Response to Fear Conditioning

Supported by the generosity of the Killam Trusts, the MNI's Killam Seminar Series invites outstanding guest speakers whose research is of interest to the scientific community at the MNI and McGill University.

The lecture is POSTPONED. 

Amit Zeisel, PhD

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Israel

Host: Jean-François Poulin

Abstract: The amygdala is a brain region primarily associated with emotional response. The use of genetic markers and single-cell transcriptomics can provide insights into the behavior-associated cell state changes. Here, we present a detailed cell type taxonomy of the adult mouse amygdala during fear learning and memory consolidation. We perform single-cell RNA-seq on naïve and fear conditioned mice and identify 130 neuronal cell types, whose spatial distributions is orthogonally validated. A subset of all neuronal types are transcriptionally responsive to fear learning and memory retrieval. The activated engram cells upregulate activity response genes, and coordinate expression of genes associated with neurite outgrowth, synaptic signaling, plasticity, and development. We identify known and previously undescribed candidate genes responsive to fear learning. Our molecular atlas may be used to generate hypotheses to unveil the neuron types and neural circuits regulating the emotional component of learning and memory