Project Details
Projekt Print View

GRK 1123:  Cellular Mechanisms of Learning and Memory Consolidation in the Hippocampal Formation

Subject Area Neurosciences
Term from 2005 to 2014
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 462239
 
Final Report Year 2015

Final Report Abstract

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.

Publications

 
 

Additional Information

Textvergrößerung und Kontrastanpassung