Animal model of cognitive impairments following gelastic seizures with the use of optogenetics

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15644
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurosurgery
• Research Institution: Niigata University
• Principal Investigator: Hasegawa Isao 新潟大学, 医歯学系, 教授 (60282620)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): 岡戸 晴生 東京都医学総合研究所 (60221842) ; 目黒 玲子 新潟大学 (30251804) ; 戸田 春男 新潟医療福祉大学 (10217507) ; 亀山 茂樹 西新潟中央病院 (60221842)
• Research Collaborator: 園田 真樹 新潟大学
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 笑い発作 / てんかん性脳症 / 視床下部 / 視床 / 光遺伝学 / チャネルロドプシン / 作業記憶

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We introduced ChR2 into lateral hypothalamus using AAV9 viral vectors, and photostimulated ChR2-expressing axonal terminals in the dorsomedial and lateral habenular nuclei in the thalamus at 80 Hz when the rats conducted a spatial working memory and control visual discrimination tasks. The pathway-specific photostimulation induced transient increases and late suppression of δ～β and γ powers, and induced working memory task-specific behavioral impairments when stimulation was applied during the cue-presenting period, but not during the delay period. These results demonstrated the feasibility of pathway-specific photostimulation in mimicking post-epileptic neural circuit changes, indicating that transient hyperactivation and subsequent suppression of the hypothalamus-dorsal thalamic pathway plays a role in cognitive impairments following gelastic seizures.

Free Research Field

神経生理学