Separating the Functions of the Medial and Lateral Entorhinal Cortex: Differential Involvement in Spatial and Non-spatial Memory Retrieval
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Anatomical connectivity and single neuron coding suggest a dissociation of information representation within the lateral and medial entorhinal cortex, a brain region with widespread connections to cortical areas. We aimed to expand this idea by examining differential contribution of these two sub-regions to the retrieval of non-spatial and spatial memory. Inactivation of lateral, but not medial regions severely impaired the retrieval of recently and remotely acquired non-spatial memory while spatial memory remained intact. To link functioning of the lateral entorhinal cortex with the known roles of the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex for memory retrieval, communication with these two regions was detected as synchronized oscillations in local field potentials. We found that stronger communication between the lateral entorhinal and prefrontal cortex during stimulus-free periods correlated with better memory performance. The lateral entorhinal cortex therefore may serve as a gateway of memory-related information between the medial prefrontal and other cortical regions. iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my Supervisor, Dr. Takehara-Nishiuchi, not only for her support, but for granting me the opportunity to embark on this research. Her insights and guidance were invaluable to this project. I would like to acknowledge and thank all of the volunteers over the last year for their tremendous help, Karen Park, Rami Bakir, Tamer Ismail, Marianne D‟Souza,
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Mark D. Morrissey
Language: English
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2513389892