Nerve cells, or neurons, are complex processing devices that transmits information using fast electrical signals. There are many different types of neurons which are interconnected into circuits that process information and provide outputs that eventually lead to behavior. To understand the combined activity of multiple neurons and how it guides behavior, we have to be able to record and manipulate the fine details of the activity of many neurons, at single cell resolution and at the millisecond timescale, during behavior. In this project we use a new technology that I developed to record and manipulate the electrical properties of multiple neurons, simultaneously, in behaving animals. We aim to generate new discoveries on the mechanisms by which neural circuits in a brain region called hippocampus, process information and help to store of spatial memories. The hippocampus is an important brain region in the storage and retrieval of memories for events, and its role in the memory of locations has been extensively studied for almost five decades. The hippocampus is also an important model in the study of how the strength of the connections between neurons can changes. This phenomenon, called neuronal plasticity, is believed to be a key mechanism for learning and memory. The experiments in this project are aimed to connect between these studies that are typically performed in isolated neurons outside of the brain, with research describing how memory of locations is represented in the activity of hippocampal neurons in behaving rodents in order to understand how the fine details of neuronal activity change during the learning process.
Our specific objectives In this project are to: 1) Elucidate how the neuronal circuits in the hippocampus changes their activity in the formation of memories of new places, 2) Develop tools that will allow to tag selected neurons that represent the memory of specific places in order to study their structure, and 3) Use this tool to tag cells that provide information to the hippocampus to understand how this input is involved in memory formation by hippocampal circuits. This research is a first step towards broader understanding of how the brain stores and retrieves memories of events. Importantly, memory storage is a central brain function which is impaired in devastating brain pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, understanding the basic mechanisms behind memory storage might have important clinical implications.
