Research (Extra Credit)

Joseph LeDoux's research is on Emotional memory.
The article I read about Joseph was:
http://www.cns.nyu.edu/corefaculty/LeDoux.php

Joseph talks about how he wanted to find out how the human brain stores information about danger. he did this experiment on lab rats and found that the way rats stored this info was the same way the Human brain did.
Now Joseph has these questions about the brain that he wants to study.
How does the brain regulate fear, as in extinction or other processes? Are other emotions mediated by similar or different circuits? What are the mechanisms through which conscious emotional feelings, as opposed to behavioral or autonomic responses, come about?

So What?
I think it is really cool that they can take a question, a rat and figure out what goes on in the human brain. Because of this information we can use this as a stepping stone to learn more about the human brain then we have before.

Now What?
Like I said above the more information Joseph receives and experiences with rats the more he can come to understand and know whats happening in the human brain. This could also help with those cases of people who see things they fear. We could teach their minds to focus on something different and help them not to see those pictures of things they fear.