BIOE 500 Fall 2025 - Dr. Stephen Maren

Waves of fear:  oscillatory control of emotional memory

Abstract: Memory retrieval requires the coordination of a distributed network of brain structures, including the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.  Coordination of neural activity across distributed brain networks is mediated by local field potentials (LFPs).  During the retrieval of emotional memories, which are relevant to clinical disorders of fear and anxiety, theta power peaks at distinct frequencies during high (3 – 6 Hz) and low (6 – 9 Hz) fear states.  We have recently discovered that the nucleus reuniens, a thalamic hub interconnecting the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, coordinates coherent oscillations in this network.  Moreover, exogenous optogenetic pacing of nucleus reuniens activity imposes coherent activity in the prefrontal-hippocampal network and modulates emotional learning and memory processes.  Closed-loop neural interfaces to regulate oscillatory states in this network may be a promising intervention for fear- and anxiety disorders. 

Biography: Stephen Maren is director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and professor of psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he joined the faculty in 2024. Maren’s research seeks to understand the neural basis of anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. He earned his B.S. at Illinois and his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Southern California. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles. He's held tenured faculty positions at the University of Michigan and Texas A&M University.