Role of the nucleus reuniens within a neural circuit for recognition memory

视觉识别记忆让我们知道我们在生活中看到或遇到的东西是新的还是熟悉的。这种记忆的形成非常迅速，通常被认为是理所当然的，但它对我们所有正常的日常活动都是必不可少的，所以失去识别记忆可能是毁灭性的。这种记忆的丧失是痴呆等神经退行性疾病的特征，但也是轻度认知障碍和精神分裂症的特征。为了成功地学习和存储成功识别记忆所需的信息，我们知道大脑的几个区域在记忆回路中相互作用。这些区域包括海马体和额叶皮层。在这里，我们提出第三个区域，即团聚核，当受损导致记忆功能下降时，是海马体-皮层记忆回路的关键节点。然而，这些区域何时或如何相互作用，以及这些区域内的信息如何协调，目前尚不清楚。我们提出的研究计划将回答有关核在识别记忆中的作用以及这三个大脑区域之间的信息如何整合和存储的问题。具体来说，我们将回答一个问题，即重聚核是否协调和协调海马体和额叶皮层的活动，这些活动是特定记忆任务所必需的。我们将从行为的角度来解决这些问题，但也会研究确保记忆信息可以长期存储的细胞过程。理解记忆形成是当今神经科学最重要的挑战之一，这一建议将增加我们对大脑如何结合日常生活中获得的记忆信息的了解，最终为我们提供我们自己的个人历史。

Visual recognition memory lets us know whether something that we see, or encounter in our lives, is new or familiar. The formation of such memory is very rapid and is usually taken for granted but it is essential for all our normal daily activities and so a loss of recognition memory can be devastating. A loss of such memory is characteristic of neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia, but is also a feature of Mild Cognitive Impairment and schizophrenia. To successfully learn and store the information needed for successful recognition memory several brain regions are known to interact in a memory circuit. These regions include the hippocampus and also the frontal cortex. Here we propose that a third region, the nucleus reuniens, which when damaged results in poor memory function, is a critical node in this hippocampal-cortical memory circuit. However it is not known when or how these regions interact, and how information within these regions is coordinated. The programme of research that we propose will answer questions about the role of the nucleus reuniens in recognition memory and how information between these three brain regions is integrated and stored. Specifically we will answer the question of whether the nucleus reuniens orchestrates and coordinates activity in the hippocampus and frontal cortex necessary for specific memory tasks. We will approach the questions from a behavioural angle, but also investigate the cellular processes that ensure memory information can be stored over the long-term.Understanding memory formation is one of the foremost challenges in neuroscience today, and this proposal will increase our knowledge about how the brain combines memory information obtained in normal every-day life, which ultimately provides us with our own personal history.