Dissociating the contributions of discrete hippocampal subregions to contextual and trace conditioning

现在人们普遍认为，不同的“类型”的记忆是由大脑的不同区域处理的。海马体是处理和暂时存储某些形式记忆的主要大脑区域之一;然而，对依赖于海马体的特定类型记忆以及该过程和存储的生物学机制知之甚少。与大多数大脑区域一样，海马体可以分为独立的功能和解剖子区域，最近已被证明对两种形式的记忆有不同的贡献，通常被称为上下文记忆（即某些事件发生的空间背景记忆）和痕迹记忆（即特定信息的短期记忆）。这个项目将系统地研究这些海马子区域的贡献，通过使用旨在暂时关闭或“关闭”这些区域的技术，在学习或回忆之前，在以后的时间，上下文和跟踪学习。此外，最近的数据表明，一个特定的基因，ARC的活动，在这些大脑区域的学习调节。 为了更全面地了解记忆形成的生化过程，本项目将进一步研究海马体中与学习相关的基因在学习过程中和学习后的活动。这些失活和遗传研究将提供一个显着更精确的表征的类型的记忆处理的每个海马子区域，以及基本的生物学机制，这种处理和存储发生。这些研究还将为研究生和本科生谁是追求科学事业提供重要的培训机会。研究生将接受研究技术和奖学金的强化培训，帮助指导本科生，所有人都将在国家和国际会议上展示他们的研究项目。

There is now widespread agreement that different "types" of memory are processed by different areas of the brain. One of the primary brain areas involved in the processing and temporary storage of some forms of memory is the hippocampus; however, relatively little known about the specific types of memory dependent on the hippocampus and the biological mechanisms underlying this process and storage. Like most brain areas, the hippocampus can be divided into separate functional and anatomical subregions, which have recently been shown to contribute differentially to two forms of memory commonly referred to as contextual memory (i.e. memory for the spatial contexts in which certain events occur) and trace memory (i.e. short-term memory for specific information). This project will systematically examine the contributions of these hippocampal subregions to contextual and trace learning by using techniques designed to temporarily inactivate, or "turn off" these areas either before learning or before recall at a later time. Moreover, recently data suggest that the activity of a specific gene, ARC, is regulated within these brain areas by learning. In order to more fully understand the biochemical processes underlying memory formation, this project will further examine the activity of this learning-related gene within the hippocampus during and after learning. These inactivation and genetic studies will provide a significantly more precise characterization of the types of memory processed by each of these hippocampal subregions as well as the basic biological mechanisms by which this processing and storage occurs. These studies will also provide important training opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students who are pursuing careers in science. Graduate students will receive intensive training in research techniques and scholarship, help mentor undergraduate students, and all will present their research projects at national and international meetings.