Brains represent information in the patterns of electrical discharge that are distributed across vast networks of brain cells to signal what we are experiencing, planning and thinking. Traces of this activity are stored and reactivated during diverse mental phenomena including perception, learning, recollection, planning and thought. It is unknown how the brain encodes and reads the information out of this dynamic activity and how different streams of information are coordinated in the electrical discharge patterns. In the effort to understand the fundamental neural code, we will record electrical activity within two networks of brain cells from freely moving rats that are using two streams of information to locate themselves on a rotating carousel-like arena. The activity in one network of cells, the hippocampus, alternates between representing the rat's position in the stable room and the position on the rotating floor. Electrical activity in a second related network, the medial entorhinal cortex, may or may not fluctuate between representing the two spatial frameworks of position information. To identify the rules of how information is coded and exchanged between brain networks, we will investigate how the activity in the hippocampus and the medial entorhinal cortex is organized and coordinated to signal the rat's location. In additional to scientific training, student members of the laboratory will receive professional training in communicating science to a lay audience. Across the year, each lab member will pay several visits to a high school science class to communicate the merits and progress of their research effort. Thus, this project will train the next generation of scientists in cutting-edge research and how to be effective communicators and provide a rare opportunity for high school students to learn about scientific research as a process of enquiry and creative problem solving.
