Recent anatomical studies have identified a region of cortex in the rat, termed postrhinal cortex, that may be homologous to the parahippocampal cortex of primates. In both monkeys and rats, the primary cortical afferents of this region arise from visual association cortex and visuospatial regions such as posterior parietal cortex, suggesting that this region is involved in visuospatial function. Consistent with this concept are preliminary findings indicating that the postrhinal cortex plays a role in specific aspects of spatial memory as well as visuospatial attention. The goal of the proposed research is to further explore the function of this circuitry in spatial cognition. Neuroanatomical methods will be used to examine in detail the topographical and laminar pattern of visuospatial input to the postrhinal cortex (Specific Aim 1), as well as the intrinsic organization of the visual association, posterior parietal, and postrhinal cortices (Specific Aim 2). Neurophysiological methods will be used to examine the encoding of visuospatial information in postrhinal cortex while rats perform a spatial memory task and a visuospatial precueing task designed to measure attentional function (Specific Aim 3). The proposed experiments will be conducted with the purpose of furthering our understanding of the role of medial temporal lobe structures in cognitive function. Findings from these studies may have direct bearing on the neurobiological bases of cognition in both normal and brain-damage humans.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
1F32MH012426-01
Application #
2862035
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-8 (01))
Program Officer
Goldschmidts, Walter L
Project Start
1999-06-01
Project End
Budget Start
1999-06-01
Budget End
2000-05-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1999
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Brown University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
001785542
City
Providence
State
RI
Country
United States
Zip Code
02912
Bucci, David J (2009) Posterior parietal cortex: an interface between attention and learning? Neurobiol Learn Mem 91:114-20
Burwell, Rebecca D; Bucci, David J; Sanborn, Matthew R et al. (2004) Perirhinal and postrhinal contributions to remote memory for context. J Neurosci 24:11023-8
Burwell, Rebecca D; Saddoris, Michael P; Bucci, David J et al. (2004) Corticohippocampal contributions to spatial and contextual learning. J Neurosci 24:3826-36
Bucci, David J; Burwell, Rebecca D (2004) Deficits in attentional orienting following damage to the perirhinal or postrhinal cortices. Behav Neurosci 118:1117-22
Bucci, David J; Saddoris, Michael P; Burwell, Rebecca D (2002) Contextual fear discrimination is impaired by damage to the postrhinal or perirhinal cortex. Behav Neurosci 116:479-88
Bucci, D J; Phillips, R G; Burwell, R D (2000) Contributions of postrhinal and perirhinal cortex to contextual information processing. Behav Neurosci 114:882-94