Psychology Dept. Class of 1960 Scholars Speaker – Dr. Sydney Trask, Purdue University

Dr. Sydney Trask, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University, will present “Taking Fear Out of Context” on Tuesday, February 28, at 4:15 p.m., in Wachenheim 113.

Dr. Trask’s research group studies the ways the brain encodes, stores, retrieves, and updates memory. She is particularly interested in understanding memory for context, or the environment in which events take place. Successful encoding and retrieval of context allows us to select and guide our behavior in a way that encourages situationally appropriate responding. Alterations in this type of memory are common in symptomology that underlies several neuropsychiatric disorders, ranging from PTSD to age-related dementia. Understanding how memory for context is formed, retrieved, and altered at both the circuit and molecular levels will provide an important step towards reducing maladaptive behaviors stemming from contextually inappropriate responding.