Hippocampal Representation of Space in Birds: An Electrophysiological Analysis

脊椎动物，包括人类，能够把过去的生活经历作为记忆，因为大脑的神经细胞能够创造出过去事件的物理记录。大量的实验研究已经确定了一个大脑结构，海马体，对新记忆的形成至关重要。然而，海马体中神经细胞的生理活动是如何促成我们称之为记忆的过去事件的物理记录的，目前尚不清楚。本文研究的问题是利用信鸽卓越的空间记忆能力和海马体在空间记忆中的重要作用。可以记录单个神经细胞活动的电极将通过外科手术植入信鸽的海马体。这些电极将被用来观察鸽子在开放环境中自由活动时，神经细胞活动是如何随着探索和新记忆的形成而变化的。行为和记忆导致的神经细胞活动的变化将为海马体如何创建过去事件的物理记录提供重要信息。大脑如何创造过去经历的物理记录是一个关键的维度，它有助于每个人的独特性。这在那些因脑部疾病、脑部创伤或仅仅是衰老而遭受记忆丧失，并逐渐或迅速经历身份丧失的人身上表现得很明显，也很可悲。使用动物模型的基础研究是解开大脑如何创造记忆的奥秘以及当不健康的大脑失去创造新记忆的能力时会出现什么问题的基础部分。通过研究鸟类海马体神经细胞的活动如何参与记忆的形成，可以获得关于海马体（包括人类海马体）与记忆之间关系的有价值的见解，并有助于理解海马体功能障碍如何导致记忆丧失。

Vertebrate animals, including man, are able to experience past events in their lives as memory because the nerve cells of the brain are able to create a physical record of those past events. A large body of experimental research has identified one brain structure, the hippocampus, as being critically important for the formation of new memories. However, how the physiological activity of nerve cells in the hippocampus are able to contribute to the physical record of past events we call memory remains uncertain. The problem to be studied in the proposed research exploits the remarkable spatial memory ability of homing pigeons and the important role of the hippocampus in that spatial memory. Electrodes, which permit the recording of activity from single nerve cells, will be surgically implanted in the hippocampus of homing pigeons. The electrodes will be used to observe how nerve cell activity changes as a consequence of exploration and the formation of new memory in pigeons allowed to freely move in an open environment. Changes in nerve cell activity as a consequence of behavior and memory would provide important information on how the hippocampus creates a physical record of past events. How the brain creates a physical record of past experiences is one critical dimension that contributes to the uniqueness of each individual. This is apparent and tragically evident in people who suffer memory loss as a consequence of brain disease, brain trauma or just aging, and gradually or quickly experience a loss of identity. Basic research using animal models is a fundamental part of unraveling the mystery of how the brain creates memories and what goes wrong when an unhealthy brain loses its ability to create new memories. By studying how activity in the nerve cells of the bird hippocampus participates in memory formation, valuable insight may be gained regarding the relationship between the hippocampus, including the human hippocampus, and memory, and help in understanding how dysfunction in the hippocampus can lead to memory loss.