I received my bachelor's degree from the
University of Nevada and am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the
Experimental Psychology program at UWM.
My present work focuses on the role of the mammalian
Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) kinase pathway in consolidation of fear
memory. The mTOR kinase controls a signaling pathway activated by
growth factors resulting in the translation of mRNA through its effects
on the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) and p70 S6 Kinase (p70
s6k). Work in our lab shows that RAP dose dependently disrupts
contextual and auditory fear memory formation when infused into the
amygdala immediately after training. Current experiments focus on
western blot analysis with antibodies directed against total and
phosphorylated p70 s6k as well as on total and phosphorylated 4E-BP1
using brain tissue from rats exposed to fear conditioning or control
treatments and sacrificed at different time points after training.
