2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Neural network organization of the spatial map
| Project/Area Number |
15K13157
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Experimental psychology
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
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| Keywords | hippocampus / memory / place cells / episodic memory / immediate early genes |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The hippocampus is essential for spatial navigation as well as episodic memory. Using immediate early genes (Zif268), we previously found that in animals engaged in a spatial task, Zif268 immunoreactive (IR) cells in the hippocampus were grouped in clusters. Here, we investigated whether a similar organization exists to encode for episodic memory. We found that animals performing a sequential odor discrimination task, pyramidal cells in the CA1/CA3 fields formed Zif268 IR clusters. In a second study, we tested animals in contextual fear memory. We found that hippocampal neurons were recruited in both spatial and episodic memory. These findings confirm that there is a fundamental functional organization in the hippocampus to encode all types of information. In a third study (not yet completed), we will be using optogenetic methods to inhibit/activate the major afferents to the hippocampus arising from the medial and lateral entorhinal cortex to confirm the validity of the clusters.
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| Free Research Field |
Behavioral Neuroscience
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