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Neuronal circuits of fear memory and fear extinction

• C.T. Wotjak

  Studied biology at the University of Leipzig (1988-1993) and obtained a PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry Ludwig-Max­imilians University Munich on neuroendocrine regula­tion of stress responses under the supervision of Prof. R. Landgraf (1996). From 1997-2000 he continued his research on mouse behavior, learning and memory, and synaptic plasticity as a postdoctoral research as­sociate at the Center for Molecular Neuroscience Ham­burg (with Prof. M. Schachner) and the National Insti­tute for Medical Research (Mill Hill, London, UK; with Prof. T. Bliss). In 2000 he returned to the Max Planck In­stitute of Psychiatry, where he leads the Neuronal Plas­ticity research group. He obtained his habilitation/ve­nia legendi in neurobiology at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich in 2011. His research is dedicated to mouse models of anxiety disorders and the interaction of ratio and emotio, with particular emphasis on the role of the endocannabinoid system. He has publishedmore than 120 original and review articles in peer-re­viewed journals. He has received the Otto Hahn Med­al of the Max Planck Society (1996) and became a Fel­low of the German-American Frontiers of Science (GA­FOS) Program of the Alexander von Humboldt Founda­tion and the American Academy of Art and Sciences/Kavli Foundation (2009).

  and H.-C. Pape

  Studied biology at the Ruhr-University Bochum, obtained a PhD (1986) in neurophysiology in Prof. Ulf Eysel’s lab and habilitation/venia legendi in physiology (1993) at the Medical Faculty. He was a postdoctoral research associate at the State University of New York/Stony Brook in the lab of Prof. Paul Adams and at Yale University in the lab of Prof. David McCormick. He was appointed director at the Institute of Physiology, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (1994–2004), where he was spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB 426) “Limbic Structures and Functions”. Since 2004 he has been Head of the Institute of Physiology I (Neurophysiology) at Westfälische Wilhelms University Münster, where he initiated (2008) the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre (SFB-TRR58) “Fear, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders”, together with Profes Christian Büchel/Hamburg, Jürgen Deckert/Würzburg, Paul Pauli/Würzburg and Norbert Sachser/Münster. He was a Member of the Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG) 1999–2005 and since 2011 has been a Member of the Scientific Council for Science and Humanities. Special scientific recognitions and awards: 1990 Bennigsen Award NRW, 1993 Heisenberg Stipend DFG, 1997 Research Award Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, 1999 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award DFG, 2006 Distinguished Teacher of the Year University Münster, 2007 Max Planck Research Award, 2008 Research Award Westfälische Wilhelms University Münster (together with Dr. Kay Jüngling and Dr. Thomas Seidenbecher).