SPATIAL MEMORY AND THE BRAIN UNDER DEMANDING CONDITIONS

描述（申请人摘要）：研究大脑和行为变化 与食物储存鸟类的记忆有关， 记忆与海马结构的关系知道如何 环境压力对记忆进化的影响可以帮助我们 了解人类记忆是如何进化的此外，研究如何 影响海马可塑性的环境因素也可能有助于我们 了解中风导致细胞死亡后大脑修复如何发生， 类似的脑损伤本研究的具体目的是：（1）分析 不可预测的食物对食物储藏山雀的记忆和大脑形态的影响 通过控制食物供应和（2）检查高能的影响， 通过比较， 产于高纬度（阿拉斯加）和低纬度（俄亥俄州）的鸟。比较缓存和 非缓存物种可以提供有关关系的额外信息 记忆、大脑和生态条件之间的关系。如果这种情况有一个 对记忆和海马体有显著影响，那么我们应该看到 食物贮藏物种，但不是在非贮藏物种。另一方面，如果 生态条件直接影响所有鸟类的大脑， 缓存的内存，那么缓存和非缓存物种都应该显示 记忆力和海马形态学的变化。

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract): Studying brain and behavioral changes associated with memory in food-caching birds may shed more light on the relationship between memory and hippocampal formation. Knowing how environmental pressure has affected the evolution of memory can help us understand how human memory has been evolving. In addition, studying how environmental factors affect hippocampal plasticity may also help us to understand how brain repair may occur after cell death resulting from stroke or similar brain damage. Specific aims of my study are (1) to analyze the effect of unpredictable food on memory and brain morphology in food-caching chickadees by manipulating food supply and (2) to examine the effect of high energetic demands resulting from long winters on memory and brain morphology by comparing birds from high (Alaska) and low (Ohio) latitudes. Comparing caching and non-caching species could provide additional information on the relationship between memory, brain, and ecological conditions. If such conditions have a significant impact on memory and the hippocampus, then we should see changes in food-caching species but not in non-caching species. On the other hand, if such ecological conditions directly affect the brains of all birds irrespective of memory for caches, then both caching and non-caching species should show changes in memory and hippocampal morphology.