Time-Place Learning, Circadian Rhythms, and Memory

时地学习、昼夜节律和记忆

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-05817
• 负责人: Thorpe, Christina
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 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: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=615918
• 关键词: Time; Place; Learning; Circadian; Rhythms

Animals tend to associate time of day with places: dogs greet us at our door minutes before our usual arrival time from work; children ask to watch television at the time of their favourite show. My research program seeks to understand how animals, including humans, learn about spatiotemporal regularities and the role of temporal (specifically, circadian) information in learning and memory. To understand how animals learn about events that vary predictably in space and time, I use a paradigm known as Time-Place Learning (TPL). In rats, TPL is demonstrated when rats learn to go to one location in morning sessions and a different location in afternoon sessions for a food reward or to avoid an aversive stimulus. I have also successfully modified this task for use in children. I intend to accomplish three primary goals with this proposed work. First, to understand how oscillators entrained by light, food, and cognitive tasks interact to provide reliable circadian information that can be used in TPL and learning and memory more generally. Second, to characterize similarities and differences between appetitive (used mostly in rats) and aversive (used mostly in mice) versions of TPL tasks. To take advantage of the neuropsychological techniques in both mice and rats, it is imperative that we better understand the similarities and differences between these species and tasks. Third, to use TPL as a method to study the development of children’s sense of time of day, separate from verbal ability. The experiments described in this proposal will allow the development of a comprehensive framework outlining the role of circadian information in learning and memory. I hypothesize that temporal information is so important in learning and memory that redundancies have been built into the system so that accurate circadian information is always available. For example, if animals learn that light information is unreliable, they will use constant meal times to keep track of time day. The adverse effects of circadian rhythm disruption on memory are noted in shift workers and those experiencing jet lag. Knowledge of how various oscillators interact and whether the presence of additional oscillators may attenuate the deleterious effects of a disrupted circadian rhythm will be valuable in assisting those with circadian rhythm disruptions. While considerable research has examined animal’s use of time of day information, research with humans on this topic is lacking. This is largely due to confounds with vocabulary ability. The study of daily TPL in humans allows an innovative method to study time of day understanding that is independent of temporal vocabulary.

动物倾向于将一天中的时间与地点联系起来：狗在我们通常下班到达时间前几分钟在门口迎接我们；孩子们要求在他们最喜欢的节目时看电视。我的研究项目旨在了解包括人类在内的动物如何了解时空规律以及时间（特别是昼夜节律）信息在学习和记忆中的作用。为了了解动物如何了解在空间和时间上可预测变化的事件，我使用了一种称为时间地点学习 (TPL) 的范式。在老鼠身上，当老鼠学会在早上的训练中去一个位置，在下午的训练中去不同的位置以获得食物奖励或避免厌恶刺激时，TPL就得到了证明。我还成功地修改了这个任务以供儿童使用。 我打算通过这项拟议的工作来实现三个主要目标。首先，了解光、食物和认知任务所产生的振荡器如何相互作用，以提供可靠的昼夜节律信息，这些信息可用于 TPL 以及更广泛的学习和记忆。其次，描述 TPL 任务的食欲（主要用于大鼠）和厌恶（主要用于小鼠）版本之间的相似性和差异。为了利用小鼠和大鼠的神经心理学技术，我们必须更好地了解这些物种和任务之间的异同。第三，使用 TPL 作为研究儿童时间感发展的方法，与语言能力分开。 该提案中描述的实验将允许开发一个全面的框架，概述昼夜节律信息在学习和记忆中的作用。我假设时间信息在学习和记忆中非常重要，因此系统中已经内置了冗余，以便始终可以获得准确的昼夜节律信息。例如，如果动物了解到光信息不可靠，它们就会使用固定的进餐时间来记录时间。昼夜节律紊乱对记忆力的不利影响在轮班工人和经历时差反应的人中很明显。了解各种振荡器如何相互作用以及额外振荡器的存在是否可以减轻昼夜节律紊乱的有害影响，对于帮助那些昼夜节律紊乱的人来说将是有价值的。虽然大量研究考察了动物对一天中的时间信息的使用，但缺乏针对人类的研究。这很大程度上是由于与词汇能力的混淆造成的。对人类日常 TPL 的研究提供了一种创新方法来研究独立于时间词汇的一天中的时间理解。