Objetivo
Our remote memories, weeks to decades long, define who we are and how we experience the world, yet almost nothing is known about the neuronal ensembles encoding them, or the mechanisms underlying the transition from recent to remote memory.
I propose a novel hypothesis explaining the selection of the ensembles supporting remote memories based on their activity, connectivity and stability. I further suggest that 'systems consolidation', underlying the transition from recent to remote memory, is implemented by ongoing interactions between brain regions. Finally, I propose a novel role for astrocytes in recent and remote memory.
My Specific Objectives are to: 1) Provide multi-dimensional characterization of the neuronal ensembles supporting recent and remote memory, by using activity-based tagging to show how recent and remote recall ensembles differ in activity, connectivity and stability. 2) Perturb the functional connectivity underlying 'systems consolidation' by employing connectivity-based tagging to label specific hippocampal and cortical projection neurons, image their activity during recent and remote memory, and causally demonstrate their functional significance to systems consolidation. 3) Determine the role of astrocytes in recent and remote memory consolidation and retrieval. We will manipulate astrocytes to show their role in recent and remote memory, ensemble allocation, and long-distance communication between neuronal populations. We will image astrocytic activity during a memory task to test if they can independently encode memory features, and how their activity corresponds to that of the neurons around them.
This pioneering ERC project, comprised of innovative and ambitious experiments going far and beyond the state of the art in the field, will drive considerable progress to our contemporary understanding of the transition from recent to remote memory, identifying ensemble dynamics and critical projections and how they are modulated by astrocytes.
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ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
91904 Jerusalem
Israel