The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has approved 21 grant applications in the Open Competition Domain Science-M program. One of these projects is led by UvA Faculty of Science researcher Harm Krugers. Together with Michel van den Oever (CNCR, VU Amsterdam) Krugers wants to study the effect of stress hormones on memory-encoding brain cells.

The NWO Open Competition Domain Science funds curiosity-driven, fundamental research from all disciplines of the Science Domain. M-grants are intended for innovative, high-quality, fundamental research and/or studies involving matters of scientific urgency. Associate Professors Harm Krugers and Michel van den Oever have been awarded such a grant.

The effect of stress hormones on memory-encoding brain cells

Stressful experiences are generally remembered well, but such memories are often less precise, which results in memory generalization (recall of the stressful event when this is not relevant). This effect is mediated by stress-hormones. We will investigate how stress-hormones enhance memory generalization by studying the properties of the specific cells in the brain that store a memory. For this, we examine their specific cellular properties, their connections, and how we can reverse effects of stress hormones to prevent memory generalization.

Source: NWO

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