This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. In this pilot study, we have used state-of-the-art reversible inactivation techniques to probe in greater detail the interactions between different components of the medial temporal lobe in memory functions in monkeys. These methods permit individual structures within the medial temporal lobe to be selectively turned off and on for a short period of time while some specific memory functions are tested. These reversible inactivation procedures create virtual lesions as the underlying neural circuitry is not structurally disrupted and a particular site is only temporarily deactivated. In the current year, one adult male monkey received a presurgical MRI scan of the brain to determine the coordinate sites for our targeted structures (the hippocampi). Then, surgical implantation of two guide cannulae positioned at the anterior and posterior portions of each hippocampus an secured on the bone. This animal is currently behaviorally trained to measure spatial memory abilities. In half of the testing sessions the target structure will be inactivated with muscimol (GABA agonist), and with the other half, vehicle will be injected. Therefore each animal will be used as its own control. This research will give a detailed description of loss of memory functions as a result of temporary inactivation of different components of the hippocampus in the same animals and will provide preliminary results critical for the development of our next federal grant.
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