[pt] Os distúrbios de ansiedade compreendem uma ampla gama de condições psiquiátricas, incluindo transtorno de ansiedade generalizada (TAG) e fobia específica. Nas últimas décadas, o uso de modelos animais de ansiedade ofereceu importantes insights sobre a interação dessas psicopatologias. Aqui nós investigamos se os ratos Cariocas de alto e baixo congelamento (CAC e CBC, respectivamente), um modelo animal de TAG, mostram fenótipos comportamentais de alto e baixo congelamento similar no condicionamento de medo ao som. Ratos adultos das linhagens CAC (n igual 16), CBC (n igual 16) e ratos Wistar normais (controle, CTL) foram testados em um paradigma de condicionamento clássico de medo ao som durante 3 dias. Respostas de congelamento foram medidas e usadas como evidência de condicionamento de medo. No geral, os ratos CAC e CBC, bem como os animais CTL, apresentaram um condicionamento de medo ao estímulo condicionado auditivo. No entanto, os animais CBC também mostraram uma rápida extinção ao estímulo condicionado auditivo. Discutimos esses resultados de acordo com dados comportamentais e neuronais observados em linhagens de roedores de alta e baixa ansiedade. / [en] Anxiety disorders comprise a broad range of psychiatric conditions, including general anxiety (GAD) and specific phobias. For the last decades the use of animal models of anxiety has offered important insights into the understanding of the association between these psychopathologies. Here we investigate whether Carioca high and low conditioned freezing rats (CHF and CLF, respectively), a GAD animal model of anxiety, show similar high and low freezing behavioral phenotypes for cued auditory fear conditioning. Adult CHF (n equal 16), CLF (n equal 16) and normal age-matched Wistar rats (control, CTL) were tested in a classical auditory cued fear conditioning paradigm over 3 days. Freezing responses were measured and used as evidence of fear conditioning. Overall, both CHF and CLF rats as well as CTL animals displayed fear conditioning to the auditory CS. However, CLF animals showed a rapid extinction to the auditory conditioned stimulus compared to CHF and CTL rats. We discuss these findings in the context of the behavioural and neuronal differences observed in rodent lines of high and low anxiety traits.

The desire to enhance and make ourselves better is not a new one and it has continued to intrigue throughout the ages. Individuals have continued to seek ways to improve and enhance their well-being for example through nutrition, physical exercise, education and so on. Crucial to this improvement of their well-being is improving their ability to remember. Hence, people interested in improving their well-being, are often interested in memory as well. The rationale being that memory is crucial to our well-being. The desire to improve one’s memory then is almost certainly as old as the desire to improve one’s well-being. Traditionally, people have used different means in an attempt to enhance their memories: for example in learning through storytelling, studying, and apprenticeship. In remembering through practices like mnemonics, repetition, singing, and drumming. In retaining, storing and consolidating memories through nutrition and stimulants like coffee to help keep awake; and by external aids like notepads and computers. In forgetting through rituals and rites. Recent scientific advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and information technologies, present a wide variety of technologies to enhance many different aspects of human functioning. Thus, some commentators have identified human enhancement as central and one of the most fascinating subject in bioethics in the last two decades. Within, this period, most of the commentators have addressed the Ethical, Social, Legal and Policy (ESLP) issues in human enhancements as a whole as opposed to specific enhancements. However, this is problematic and recently various commentators have found this to be deficient and called for a contextualized case-by-case analysis to human enhancements for example genetic enhancement, moral enhancement, and in my case memory enhancement (ME). The rationale being that the reasons for accepting/rejecting a particular enhancement vary depending on the enhancement itself. Given this enormous variation, moral and legal generalizations about all enhancement processes and technologies are unwise and they should instead be evaluated individually. Taking this as a point of departure, this research will focus specifically on making a case for ME and in doing so assessing the ESLP implications arising from ME. My analysis will draw on the already existing literature for and against enhancement, especially in part two of this thesis; but it will be novel in providing a much more in-depth analysis of ME. From this perspective, I will contribute to the ME debate through two reviews that address the question how we enhance the memory, and through four original papers discussed in part three of this thesis, where I examine and evaluate critically specific ESLP issues that arise with the use of ME. In the conclusion, I will amalgamate all my contribution to the ME debate and suggest the future direction for the ME debate.