This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.Impaired memory is an important component of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, depression, and temporal lobe epilepsy that collectively affect over four million Americans. The goal of this project was to contribute to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie memory processes, in order to bring us closer to developing new therapies for these disabled patients. Damage to medial temporal lobe structures in monkeys impairs performance on a task of visual recognition memory, the Visual Preferential Looking Task (VPLT). The objective of this project was to identify the neuronal mechanisms that support memory performance on the VPLT in awake, behaving monkeys. In the past year, we accumulated new data which demonstrate that increased gamma-frequency (40-100 Hz) synchronization among hippocampal neurons was associated with enhanced recognition memory. Increased synchrony during encoding was predictive of successful subsequent recognition memory performance. These data suggest a possible mechanism by which medial temporal lobe neurons are modified during memory consolidation. In the past year, we have also accumulated new data which demonstrate that individual hippocampal neurons display firing properties that could support performance on the VPLT. Additionally, we have accumulated data that demonstrate that ongoing oscillations in the hippocampus are reset at the time of stimulus onset and fixation onset. These data suggest that modulations in oscillatory activity among medial temporal lobe neurons may play an important role in stimulus processing.
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