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

我们是如何形成记忆的？记忆是如何在大脑中表现出来的？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，感官激活了特定脑区的神经元群体。由给定输入激活的神经元群体形成神经元集合，读出是大脑中感觉输入的表示。我们的研究表明，记忆是由基于先前经验的独特的神经元集合重组而成的。为了研究学习和记忆，我们使用了一个简单的模型，涉及动物如何学习联系气味。我们的工作使用专门的技术来可视化神经元集合，我们一直在研究神经元群体的活动是如何由学习和记忆气味的经验塑造的。我们可以检测和构建记忆是在哪里形成的，是如何形成的。我们提出的研究将为理解改变记忆底层认知表征的机制开辟新的途径。

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.