This competing continuation application focuses on neural mechanisms in entorhinal cortex that could underlie coding of space and time in episodic memory. This includes testing the role of cholinergic modulation of cellular properties in generating and modulating grid cell firing properties in entorhinal cortex. Research in Aim #1 will test multiple single unit recording of entorhinal grid cells before and after pharmacological infusions of drugs influencing acetylcholine levels and acetylcholine receptor activation. Experiments will test predictions from computational models of the cellular mechanisms of grid cells that predict changes in grid field accuracy and spacing during manipulations of acetylcholine levels. Research in Aim #2 will test models of the generation of grid cells and context-dependent spiking activity in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex in a range of behavioral tasks. Experiments will test alternate versions of the model that obtain different patterns of context-dependent firing dependent on velocity, speed or time after reset by different stimuli. Research in Aim #3 will test cellular properties of currents that could underlie grid cell firing in entorhinal cortex, guided by models linking network properties of grid cells to cellular mechanisms. Studies will test whether differences in the acetylcholine sensitive M-current could underlie differences in grid cell spatial frequency along the dorsal to ventral axis of medial entorhinal cortex. Studies will also test effects of cholinergic modulation on the resonance and membrane potential oscillation frequency of entorhinal neurons to link these effects to changes in grid cell firing associated with pharmacological manipulations in behaving animals. These studies will enhance our understanding of the dynamical mechanisms in the entorhinal cortex for encoding space and time in episodic memory. This work will enhance our understanding of cellular and circuit mechanisms of disorders involving impairments and distortions of memory function, including mental disorders such as depression and schizophrenia, associated with impairments of memory and decreased volume of hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, as well as memory-related neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

Public Health Relevance

This grant focuses on studying the brain mechanisms for storing episodes from life and retrieving these episodes at other times, based on interacting populations of neurons. This work includes experiments testing models of how cells code the spatial location of episodes and how certain drugs influence the coding by these cells. These experiments and models are relevant to brain mechanisms that may break down in disorders involving distortions of memory encoding and retrieval, including disorders such as depression, which is associated with memory impairments and a negative bias in retrieved memories, as well as schizophrenia, which involves impairments and distortions in memory function.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH060013-15
Application #
8603865
Study Section
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Study Section (LAM)
Program Officer
Glanzman, Dennis L
Project Start
2000-01-06
Project End
2015-01-31
Budget Start
2014-02-01
Budget End
2015-01-31
Support Year
15
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$328,178
Indirect Cost
$127,703
Name
Boston University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
049435266
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02215
Alexander, Andrew S; Hasselmo, Michael E (2018) Shedding light on stellate cells. Elife 7:
Hasselmo, Michael E; Stern, Chantal E (2018) A network model of behavioural performance in a rule learning task. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 373:
Hinman, James R; Dannenberg, Holger; Alexander, Andrew S et al. (2018) Neural mechanisms of navigation involving interactions of cortical and subcortical structures. J Neurophysiol 119:2007-2029
Záborszky, Laszlo; Gombkoto, Peter; Varsanyi, Peter et al. (2018) Specific Basal Forebrain-Cortical Cholinergic Circuits Coordinate Cognitive Operations. J Neurosci 38:9446-9458
Ferrante, Michele; Shay, Christopher F; Tsuno, Yusuke et al. (2017) Post-Inhibitory Rebound Spikes in Rat Medial Entorhinal Layer II/III Principal Cells: In Vivo, In Vitro, and Computational Modeling Characterization. Cereb Cortex 27:2111-2125
Hasselmo, Michael E; Hinman, James R; Dannenberg, Holger et al. (2017) Models of spatial and temporal dimensions of memory. Curr Opin Behav Sci 17:27-33
Dannenberg, Holger; Young, Kimberly; Hasselmo, Michael (2017) Modulation of Hippocampal Circuits by Muscarinic and Nicotinic Receptors. Front Neural Circuits 11:102
Ferrante, Michele; Tahvildari, Babak; Duque, Alvaro et al. (2017) Distinct Functional Groups Emerge from the Intrinsic Properties of Molecularly Identified Entorhinal Interneurons and Principal Cells. Cereb Cortex 27:3186-3207
Monaghan, Caitlin K; Chapman 4th, G William; Hasselmo, Michael E (2017) Systemic administration of two different anxiolytic drugs decreases local field potential theta frequency in the medial entorhinal cortex without affecting grid cell firing fields. Neuroscience 364:60-70
Newman, Ehren L; Venditto, Sarah Jo C; Climer, Jason R et al. (2017) Precise spike timing dynamics of hippocampal place cell activity sensitive to cholinergic disruption. Hippocampus 27:1069-1082

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