Project description
Memory stability and adaptability
Adapting to a changing environment requires the capacity to update memories. Certain memories need to remain stable over time, while others must remain adaptable so they can be revised when new information arises. Although we increasingly understand how stable memories are maintained, the biological mechanisms that allow memories to remain malleable are still unclear. The ERC-funded MALLEABLE MEMORY project builds on the discovery that different groups of hippocampal neurons support either stable or flexible memory states. To understand how the brain regulates the balance between memory persistence and updating, researchers will study how developmentally defined subpopulations of early and late born neurons interact to support memory over time. Project results will provide important insight into the mechanism of adaptive behaviour.
Objective
The ability to update memories underpins adaptive behaviours, ensuring that our internal models of the world remain consistent with the dynamic environments we inhabit. Striking a balance between memory stability (the persistence and robustness of memories over time) and malleability (the capacity to update memories in response to new information) is thus essential to learn from experience and adapt to change. While the biological foundations of memory stability are increasingly understood, the mechanisms supporting memory malleability – and how they balance with stability – remain largely unknown. What distinguishes a stable memory from a malleable one? What processes govern the updating of malleable memories, and what prevents updates in stable memories? How is the balance between stability and malleability regulated?
To answer these questions, we will leverage our recent discovery that the propensity for stability or malleability of a memory shifts over time in association with activity dynamics in corresponding neurogenesis-defined hippocampal neuron subpopulations. Specifically, we showed that Early-Born Neuron (EBN) activity supports stable memory states and prevents memory updating, while Late-Born Neuron (LBN) activity is associated with malleable states and promotes memory updating. Based on these findings, we hypothesise that a key mechanism regulating the stability/malleability balance lies in the interplay between activity dynamics of hippocampal EBNs and LBNs, with mutual interactions between these subpopulations underpinning memory updating and its flexible use in response to shifting contingencies. Building on this hypothesis, our proposal will use cutting-edge genetic, cellular, network, and behavioural approaches in rodents to dissect mutual interactions between EBN and LBN activity dynamics, thus revealing fundamental mechanisms that regulate the stability/malleability balance, critical for survival and resilience in dynamic environments.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
4051 Basel
Switzerland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.