Formation and adaptation of memory: Neurobiological mechanisms underlying learning and reversal learning
Year: 2008
Type: book
Abstract: The hippocampus is a brain region that plays a critical role in memory formation. In addition, it has been suggested that this brain region is important for ‘updating’ information that is incorrect or outdated. The main goal of this thesis project was to investigate which neurobiological processes underlie these processes. In the majority of the experiments the following method was used: by means of training in a spatial maze, mice learned to visit a specific location to obtain a food reward. After training, the mice were confronted with a modified situation: the food reward was now at a novel location, with no food reward at the previously learned location. To associate the new location with the food reward, mice had to modify the previously formed memory for the original location of the food reward. We show that within the hippocampus, the protein calcineurin, which has been suggested to suppress the formation of memories, plays a crucial role in modifying previously formed memories. In addition, we reveal that the protein PKA plays a crucial role in the detection of changes in a well-known environment or situation and is involved in the processes required for updating outdated memories. We also show that sleep loss attenuates the functioning of PKA in the hippocampus. As a result, updating of previously formed memories is delayed. This study gives new insight into the role of sleep in memory processes and shows which proteins play a key role in changing previously stored memories.
Author: Robbert Havekes
Language: English
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1537523055