2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Identity and circuit functions of glia engrams
Project/Area Number |
21H02588
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 一般 |
Review Section |
Basic Section 46010:Neuroscience-general-related
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Research Institution | Institute of Physical and Chemical Research |
Principal Investigator |
Nagai Jun 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 脳神経科学研究センター, チームリーダー (60892586)
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Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
笠井 淳司 大阪大学, 大学院薬学研究科, 准教授 (40454649)
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Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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Keywords | グリア / 記憶 |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Experiments that genetically label neural activity associated with behavioral changes and recapitulate activity patterns have made it possible to clearly test the causal relationship between behavior and neural activity (e.g., memory trace [engram] cells). On the other hand, no attempt has been made to capture and replicate the activity patterns of the glia, which exists in the brain and interact with neural circuits. Therefore, in this study, we tested the hypothesis that there is a glial engram that is activated only in specific memories. We conduct glial engram perturbation experiments in the whole brain and specific regions based on behavior/state-specific whole-brain astrocyte activity distributions using a uniquely established whole-brain-level astrocyte activity-dependent exogenous gene expression induction system. By doing so, we clarified the correlation and causality of astrocyte activity during behavior.
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Free Research Field |
神経科学
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Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
我々の経験は脳内で情報処理され、記憶として蓄積される。脳細胞の相互作用により、記憶は形成あるいは消失するが、この詳細な細胞・分子基盤は明らかになっていない。脳細胞は神経細胞のみならず、多様なグリア細胞や血管からなっており、これら総体的な細胞ネットワークの動態と機能メカニズムを記述することは、記憶のしくみを解明し人間の心理や健康を深く理解する鍵となるばかりでなく、学習や記憶障害を持つ人々への治療法の開発が可能になり、アルツハイマー病のような病気の予防や治療に繋がる可能性がある。
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