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Projekt Druckansicht

GRK 1123:  Zelluläre Mechanismen von Lernen und Gedächtniskonsolidierung in der hippokampalen Formation

Fachliche Zuordnung Neurowissenschaften
Förderung Förderung von 2005 bis 2014
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 462239
 
Erstellungsjahr 2015

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

Our research training group (RTG) combined innovative approaches in an interdisciplinary fashion to investigate neuronal plasticity as a factor in mechanisms of learning and memory in the hippocampal formation. The hippocampus has long been known to play a key role in the formation of several forms of memory, including episodic and spatial memory. In rodents, hippocampal pyramidal neurons selectively discharge when the animal is in a specific location in space: these neurons are referred to as 'place cells'. Intriguingly, place cells sequentially activated during exploration of space by rodents are subsequently reactivated in the same order during sleep, as if the animal were virtually ‘dreaming’ of the same trajectories. Thus, during exploration a neural assembly is formed which can be reactivated for decision-making and for memory consolidation. This 'replay' occurs during 200 Hz network oscillations known as ‘sharp wave ripples’. The latter, markedly fast timescale is consistent with time windows optimal for induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), the principal candidate as the molecular mechanism of synaptic plasticity underlying memory. Consequently, most studies have focused on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, in particular: 1) regulation of transmitter release; 2) mechanisms underlying memory formation and consolidation; 3) homeostatic and heterosynaptic plasticity (and the disturbance of the latter) as a factor in diseases such as temporal lobe epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. From the work of the members of the GRK1123 more than 100 papers appeared, many of them in high impact factor journals such as Science, Neuron, and PNAS. A total of 56 funded and associated students were supported by the GRK1123. Approximately 28 students contributed to the success of the second funding period. Many of the GRK1123-funded students found excellent postdoctoral positions in outstanding research groups based at institutions such as Janelia Farm and Cambridge University. The experience of the tutors in the GRK1123 and parallel initiatives led to a successful bid for an Einstein Center, which will be officially publicized in late October 2015. The center will extend the achievements of GRK 1123 by focusing on improved infrastructure for an even more advanced educational platform aimed at a new generation of neuroscientists.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

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