Topic: Aversive events

Aversive events in our environment shape our behaviours. Instrumental behaviours are punished when an action results in an aversive event. Yet there are instances where behaviours appear inappropriately sensitive to potential threats. The neural underpinnings of these inappropriate behaviours are poorly understood. In a conditioned punishment task, we trained rats to press two levers for pellets. Their responding suppressed on one lever when it also earned a conditioned stimulus (CS+) that was paired with a footshock, whilst responding continued on the other lever that earned a neutral conditi

The experience of aversive events is a component of everyone’s lives. People perceive aversive events and traumas in distinct ways, but the explanation of this different perception is poorly understood. In some cases, maladaptive responses to traumatic events may leads to chronic fear disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite the high prevalence of such disorders, effective treatments for trauma remain scarce. Recently, psilocybin has emerged as a promising drug for major depressive disorder (MDD) and potentially PTSD. However, its mechanism of action and how it could