Neural representation of object memory in the hippocampal formation

该项目将创建和实施一种新的物体记忆翻译动物测试，使用操作室中的刺激集，该操作室将根据经过验证的人类评级开发。然后，我们将使用这项任务首次探索当对象信息在触摸屏室中以2D图像或在开放场所作为3D物理对象呈现时，对象记忆是如何在神经水平上编码的。这一点很重要，因为虽然我们从人类fMRI实验中获得了关于对象记忆在大脑中如何编码的非常好的数据，但这种方法提供了一种间接衡量神经功能的方法，通过局部代谢需求的变化来索引。记录神经反应在大鼠和小鼠中是一项成熟的技术，但关于神经元如何编码对象记忆的研究在研究数量和实验方法方面都受到严重限制。此外，还没有关于大鼠神经元是否以类似于人类的方式处理和表示2D和3D刺激的研究。我们通过触摸屏(2D；完全可翻译为人类研究)和开放环境(3D)对信息的神经反应进行比较，将为这两种情况下物体信息的呈现提供重要而新颖的见解，以及神经元如何区分具有高或低相似性的物体。

This project will create and implement a new translational animal test for object memory using stimulus sets in an operant chamber that will be developed from validated human ratings. We will then use this task to probe for the first time how object memory is encoded at the neural level when object information is presented either as a 2D image in the touchscreen chamber or as a 3D physical object in an open arena. This is important because whilst we have very good data from human fMRI experiments about how object memory is encoded in the brain this approach provides an indirect measure of neural function, indexed via changes in regional metabolic demand. Recording of neural responses is a well-established technique in rats and mice, but investigation of how neurones encode object memory is severely limited in terms of both number of studies and experimental approach. In addition, there has been no investigation of whether rat neurones process and represent 2D and 3D stimuli in similar ways to humans. Our comparison of neural responses to information via a touchscreen (2D; fully translatable to human studies) and in an open arena (3D) will provide vital and novel insights into the presentation of object information in both cases AND how neurones can distinguish between objects with high or low similarity.