Current Areas of Research:

In early life, conditions change rapidly for a young animal. It has to deal with a succession of different ecological and social environments. Development is thus characterized by changes in behavioral organization. My research focuses on defensive behavior and how it changes during early life. We investigate the neural substrate that underlies fear-related responses in infant rats at various points of ontogeny. We analyze the brain circuits that mediate responses to threat, their changes in the first weeks of life and the factors that affect these changes. The analysis of the developmental plasticity of neurobehavioral systems is important for our understanding of age-specific adaptations and the development of psychopathologies.

Selected Publications:

• Chen, S.W.C., Shemyakin, A., Wiedenmayer, C.P. (2006) The role of the amygdala and olfaction in unconditioned fear in developing rats. J. Neurosci. 26: 233-240.
• Wiedenmayer, C.P., Magarinos, A.M., McEwen, B.S., Barr, G.A. (2005) Age-specific threats induce CRF expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and hippocampus of young rats. Horm. Behav. 47: 139-150.
• Wiedenmayer, C.P. (2004). Adaptations or pathologies? Long-term changes in brain and behavior after a single exposure to severe threat. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 28: 1-12.