Episodic-like memory and the rat hippocampus

内存的一个基本方面是在上下文中存储和检索事件的能力。在这里，上下文意味着事件发生的地点、时间和内容之间的联系。人类海马体与这些记忆过程密切相关，称为情景记忆。我们将探索一种新的记忆任务的版本，该任务涉及一次巴甫洛夫学习，包括空间和时间上下文元素之间的联系，以评估大鼠的情景式记忆能力。我们将确定这些任务在多大程度上依赖于海马体回路的完整性和可塑性。最后，我们将结合即刻早期基因的行为激活和选择性神经毒性损伤来评估海马体和相关网络在情景样记忆中的功能互连程度。这一结果将澄清两个鲜为人知的过程：非人类哺乳动物的情节式记忆以及支持它的神经系统处理。

A fundamental aspect of memory is the ability to store and retrieve events in a context. Here context means linkages among where, when, and what events occurred. The human hippocampus has been strongly linked to these memory processes, termed episodic memory.We will explore versions of a new memory task involving one-trial Pavlovian learning that includes linkages among spatial and temporal contextual elements to evaluate episodic-like memory abilities in rats. We will determine the extent to which these tasks depend upon the integrity and plasticity of hippocampal circuitry. Finally, we will evaluate the extent of functional interconnection of hippocampus and related networks in episodic-like memory using a combination of behavioural activation of immediate early genes and selective neurotoxic damage. The results will clarify two poorly understood processes: episodic-like memory in nonhuman mammals and the neural systems processing that support it.