RUI: The Functional Significance of Hippocampal Plasticity

大脑在受伤后如何自我重组，以及这种重组是否会改变大脑的功能，这些都是现代神经科学中的重大谜团之一。了解这种损伤诱导的重组是否促进、增强或阻碍大脑区域之间的沟通，将为这种大脑可塑性如何有助于学习和记忆所需的基本功能提供见解。该项目使用电生理技术来确定两个不同的大脑区域，即隔膜和内嗅觉皮质，是否由于大脑皮层损伤而经历了重新连接，从而改变了它们所连接的第三个区域的功能，即海马体--学习和记忆的关键角色。拉米雷斯博士和他的学生此前已经证明，加快内嗅觉连接到海马体的重组会促进记忆功能的恢复。这个项目将阐明隔膜和内嗅觉皮质的相互作用是否可能促进这种功能改善。因此，该项目将提供线索，说明不同大脑区域的相互作用如何合作来促进学习和记忆。该研究计划的一个重要组成部分是对本科生进行神经科学方面的教育和培训。将从多数群体、代表性不足的少数群体、残疾群体和社会/经济上处于不利地位的学生中招募学生，作为“初级”同事参与将要进行的研究。每个学生都将接受拟议研究项目的各个方面的密集培训，从动物护理到电生理实验，再到脑组织的准备和评估。在戴维森学院培养一支致力于科学研究的学生干部队伍，可能会激励自然科学和社会科学以及神经科学项目的其他学生和教职员工追求科学冒险。

How the brain reorganizes itself after an injury and whether this reorganization alters the brain's ability to function are among the great mysteries in modern neuroscience. Gaining an understanding of whether this injury-induced reorganization promotes return to, enhances, or impedes communication across brain areas will provide insights into how this brain plasticity might contribute to fundamental functions required for learning and memory. This project uses electrophysiological techniques to ascertain whether two distinct brain areas, i.e. the septum and the entorhinal cortex, that have undergone a rewiring induced by an injury to the brain's cortex interact to alter the function of a third area with which they are connected, i.e. the hippocampus -- a key player in learning and memory. Dr. Ramirez and his students have previously shown that accelerating the reorganization of entorhinal connections to the hippocampus promotes the return of memory function. This project will shed light on whether the interaction of the septum and the entorhinal cortex may promote this functional improvement. The project will thereby provide clues as to how the interaction of separate brain regions may cooperate to promote learning and memory. An essential component of the research program is the education and training of undergraduate students in neuroscience. Students will be recruited from the majority, underrepresented minority groups, disabled groups, and socially/financially disadvantaged students to participate as "junior" colleagues in the research to be undertaken. Each student will be trained intensively in every facet of the proposed research project, from animal care through electrophysiological experimentation to the preparation and assessment of brain tissue. Creating a cadre of students at Davidson College invested in scientific research may energize other students and faculty in the natural and social sciences as well as in the neuroscience program to pursue scientific adventure.