Our research is aimed at gaining knowledge about the mechanisms of chemical communication between brain structures that interact during aversive memory formation, as well as those without an evident emotional component, by using non-associative and associative taste and context learning models and manipulating the different structures involved in forming and retrieving memory. Behavioral, pharmacological and neurochemical findings to date indicate that complex structural and chemical interactions between cortical, basal and limbic areas of the brain occur during the acquisition, consolidation and evocation of memories. These studies are helping to better understand the similarities and differences in how memories of different types and strengths are processed.

Our questions are summarized as: What are the routes and the molecules responsible for encoding the stimuli which will make the memory for a taste, smell or context? How does smell influence the memory of a taste and what are the circuits which comprise these two stimuli during the formation of the taste memory? Are the neurotransmission structures and systems similar during the formation of incidental and aversive memories?