Information on FRATx (current version FRATx10.m)

     FRATx.m was used to produce all the simulations of Krasne et al
(2011).  The program was written in Matlab 7.4.0 (R2007a).  The zip
file obtainable at ModelDB includes (1) the Matlab code of the
program, (2) a supplement to the paper itself, which includes a
mathematical description of the model as well as simulations that
there was not room for in the original paper (the supplement is also
available at http:/escholarship.org/uc/item/3hk369c4 ) and (3) a
manual that explains how to use the program and that provides
additional information on the program.

     FRATx.m was derived from an earlier program (frat.m) that was
written for educational purposes.  The student program, frat.m,
program is available at http://mdcune.psych.ucla.edu/modules/frat.  It
is a compiled version, and the necessary Matlab runtime environment
needed for using it is available for free at the website.  The student
program is designed to allow students to do standard types of
behavioral neuroscience experiments to try to arrive at an
understanding of the neural circuitry that underlies fear learning in
the automaton.  In order to make this problem tractable for the
students, the amygdala of frat.m, unlike that of FRATx.m, has only a
single LA-like nucleus (the x in FRATx, refers to the "extra" nuclei
of the program's amydala over and beyond those of the mono-nucleate
frat program).  However frat.m has features not present inb FRATx: an
explicit cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, etc laid out in a
two-dimensional stereotaxic atlas and a variety of utilities for doing
realistic kinds of experiments.  Students can implant stimulating
electrodes and recording extracellular microelectores, infuse various
drugs, make lesions, etc.  We have had considerable experience using
it for teaching at UCLA and we encourage its use elsewhere.  We cannot
offer support, but when possible we will try to address occasional
questions on an informal basis.
