Circdyn | Optical Interrogation of Hippocampal Dentate Granule Circuit Dynamics in Health and Disease

Summary
Understanding the cellular and synaptic basis of memory remains a central goal of modern neuroscience. Physical traces of memory exist as an enduring, experience-dependent change in neural activity in response to learning. In the hippocampus, a key region of the mammalian brain involved in memory formation and recall, new neurons are continually generated in the dentate gyrus (DG) where they form an integral part of the existing functional circuitry. Despite its key position in the hippocampal formation, however, the function of DG and its adult-born neurons in vivo has not been carefully investigated. Here, by applying transgenic and optogenetic approaches – including multicolour genetically encoded activity reporters – together with longitudinal two-photon imaging, we aim to study functional dynamics and plastic changes in DG in health and disorder. We propose that activity patterns in DG cell populations show activity-dependent changes during learning and construct a cellular and circuit basis for contextual memory engrams. We will also investigate how synaptic alterations in excitation-inhibition balance and defects in adult neurogenesis in DG lead to neurological disorders such as Rett syndrome.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/709288
Start date: 01-01-2017
End date: 31-12-2018
Total budget - Public funding: 175 419,60 Euro - 175 419,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

Understanding the cellular and synaptic basis of memory remains a central goal of modern neuroscience. Physical traces of memory exist as an enduring, experience-dependent change in neural activity in response to learning. In the hippocampus, a key region of the mammalian brain involved in memory formation and recall, new neurons are continually generated in the dentate gyrus (DG) where they form an integral part of the existing functional circuitry. Despite its key position in the hippocampal formation, however, the function of DG and its adult-born neurons in vivo has not been carefully investigated. Here, by applying transgenic and optogenetic approaches – including multicolour genetically encoded activity reporters – together with longitudinal two-photon imaging, we aim to study functional dynamics and plastic changes in DG in health and disorder. We propose that activity patterns in DG cell populations show activity-dependent changes during learning and construct a cellular and circuit basis for contextual memory engrams. We will also investigate how synaptic alterations in excitation-inhibition balance and defects in adult neurogenesis in DG lead to neurological disorders such as Rett syndrome.

Status

CLOSED

Call topic

MSCA-IF-2015-EF

Update Date

28-04-2024
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE
H2020-EU.1.3. EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
H2020-EU.1.3.2. Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
H2020-MSCA-IF-2015
MSCA-IF-2015-EF Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF)