The Engram of Odor Learning in the Piriform Cortex of the Rat

大鼠梨状皮层的气味学习印记

• 批准号: 418451-2013
• 负责人: Yuan, Qi
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Memorial University of Newfoundland
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=573662
• 关键词: Engram; Odor; Learning; Piriform; Cortex

How do we form memory and how is memory represented in the brain? Recent advances in neuroscience suggest that external events are represented in the brain as patterns of neuronal activity. Input to the brain arrives from our senses, which activate populations of neurons in particular brain regions. The population of neurons activated by a given input forms a neuronal ensemble, a read out which is the representation of the sensory input in the brain. Our research suggests that memory is formed by a reorganization of unique neuronal ensembles based on previous experience. In order to study learning and memory, we are using a simple model that involves how animals learn to associate odors. Our work uses specialized techniques to visualize ensembles of neurons and we have been studying how the activity of populations of neurons is shaped by experience during learning and memory of odors. We can detect and construct where and how the memory is formed. Our proposed research will open new avenues for understanding mechanisms that modify cognitive representations underlying memory.

我们如何形成记忆以及记忆在大脑中是如何表现的？神经科学的最新进展表明，外部事件在大脑中表现为神经元活动的模式。大脑的输入来自我们的感官，它激活特定大脑区域的神经元群。由给定输入激活的神经元群体形成神经元集合，其读出是大脑中感觉输入的表示。我们的研究表明，记忆是根据以前的经验对独特的神经元群进行重组而形成的。 为了研究学习和记忆，我们使用了一个简单的模型，该模型涉及动物如何学习关联气味。 我们的工作使用专门的技术来可视化神经元群，并且我们一直在研究神经元群的活动如何受到气味学习和记忆过程中经验的影响。我们可以检测并构建记忆的形成地点和方式。我们提出的研究将为理解改变记忆背后的认知表征的机制开辟新途径。