Time-place learning

本研究项目采用时间-地点学习（TPL）模式，研究空间和时间信息在动物记忆组织中的作用。在TPL中，食物的可用性取决于时间（例如，从学习开始的时间或一天中的时间）和地点（例如，在径向臂迷宫上的位置）。关于动物如何在记忆中存储这些信息，一直存在一些争论。Gallistel（1990）提出，动物将这些信息编码成包含时间、地点和事件的三部分代码。我提出了另一种假设，认为动物将信息编码成两部分代码——一个包含时间和事件，另一个包含地点和事件。我提出的研究计划的主要目标是确定二部假说还是三部假说更有可能反映大鼠如何编码时空信息。然后，我将确认该研究的发现也适用于其他动物的TPL任务。最终目标是确定是否可以使用二分（或三分）时空信息编码来解释TPL领域之外的记忆。有人认为，动物可以根据其空间和时间特征对所有重要的生物学信息进行编码（Gallistel, 1990）。最近，Brown和McCormack（2006）发表了一章，认为人类的记忆可能是在时间上（也可能是在空间上）组织起来的，这与他们提出的研究很自然地吻合。

This research program investigates the role of spatial and temporal information in the organization of animal memory, using a paradigm known as time-place learning (TPL). In TPL the availability of food varies depending on the time (e.g., the time in minutes since the study session began or the time of day) and the place (e.g., location on a radial arm maze). There has been some debate about how animals store this information in memory. Gallistel (1990) proposes that animals encode this information into a tripartite code that contains the time, place and event. I have proposed an alternative hypothesis that says that animals encode the information into two bipartite codes - one containing time and event and the other place and event. The primary goal of my proposed program of research is to determine whether the bipartite or tripartite hypothesis is more likely to reflect how rats encode the spatiotemporal information. I will then confirm that the findings of that research is also applicable to other animals in TPL tasks. The ultimate goal is to determine if bipartite (or tripartite) encoding of spatiotemporal information can be used to explain memory outside the realm of TPL. It has been suggested that animals may encode all biologically important information in terms of their spatial and temporal characteristics (Gallistel, 1990). Recently Brown and McCormack (2006) published a chapter suggesting that human memory may be organized temporally (and possibly spatially), suggesting a natural fit with the proposed research.