Work

Prefrontal pathways provide top down control of memory for sequences of events

Year: 2018

Type: preprint

Abstract: Summary We remember our lives as sequences of events, but it is unclear how these memories are controlled during retrieval. In rats, prelimbic cortex (PL) is positioned to influence sequence memory through extensive top down inputs to the nucleus reuniens of the thalamus (RE) and perirhinal cortex (PER), regions heavily interconnected with the hippocampus. Here, we tested the hypothesis that specific PL➔RE and PL➔PER projections regulate sequence memory retrieval using an hM4Di synaptic-silencing approach. First, we show that the suppression of PL activity impairs sequence memory. Second, we show that inhibiting PL➔RE and PL➔PER pathways effectively eliminated sequence memory. Last, we performed a sequential lag analysis showing that the PL➔RE pathway contributes to a working memory retrieval strategy, and the PL➔PER pathway contributes to a temporal context memory retrieval strategy. These results demonstrate that the PL➔RE and PL➔PER pathways serve as top down mechanisms that control sequence memory retrieval strategies.

Source: bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)

DOI: 10.1101/508051

Authors: Maanasa Jayachandran, Stephanie Linley, Maximilian Schlecht, Stephen V. Mahler, Robert P. Vertes, Timothy A. Allen

Institutions: Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University, University of California, Irvine

Language: English

Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health

Award: The role of the nucleus reuniens in the temporal organization of memory andbehavior