Laura DeNardo, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology
David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
Host(s): Franck Polleux (Faculty), Aleksandra Recupero (Graduate Student)
Circuit mechanisms of remote memory
Memories of emotionally-salient events are long-lasting, guiding behavior from minutes to years after learning. The prelimbic cortex (PL) is required for fear memory retrieval across time and is densely interconnected with many subcortical and cortical areas involved in recent and remote memory recall, including the temporal association area (TeA). While the behavioral expression of a memory may remain constant over time, the neural activity mediating memory-guided behavior is dynamic. In PL, different neurons underlie recent and remote memory retrieval and remote memory-encoding neurons have preferential functional connectivity with cortical association areas, including TeA. TeA plays a preferential role in remote compared to recent memory retrieval, yet how TeA circuits drive remote memory retrieval remains poorly understood. Here we used a combination of activity-dependent neuronal tagging, viral circuit mapping and miniscope imaging to investigate the role of the PL-TeA circuit in fear memory retrieval across time in mice. We show that PL memory ensembles recruit PL-TeA neurons across time, and that PL-TeA neurons have enhanced encoding of salient cues and behaviors at remote timepoints. This recruitment depends upon ongoing synaptic activity in the learning-activated PL ensemble. Our results reveal a novel circuit encoding remote memory and provide insight into the principles of memory circuit reorganization across time.
Revelant Publications:
Temporal evolution of cortical ensembles promoting remote memory retrieval
Venue Information:
Speaker Location: Jerome L. Greene Science Center, Kavli Auditorium, 9th Floor Lecture Hall
The Columbia Neuroscience Seminars have been organized to help build community and collaboration among researchers interested in this broad field across campus. The in-person activities, including the talks, provide meaningful interactions for the speakers, many of whom have traveled a long way to visit Columbia. However, if you are a Columbia researcher on another campus and are unable to attend the talk at the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, please email [email protected] at least 48 hours in advance to request an individual, one-time Zoom link (livestream only, no Q&A).
If you have a short- or long-term accommodation request (medical issue, travel, other concerns, etc.), or any other questions, please also reach out to [email protected].
Tuesdays@10 is a signature Zuckerman Institute initiative that aims to expose researchers at all levels to high-quality science and stimulate scientific discourse. The speakers featured in this series represent various fields and techniques in neuroscience, and include invited guests of the Columbia Neuroscience Seminars, the Zuckerman Institute's Local Circuits Affiliates Program, and other special seminar series through a combined, collaborative effort of one or more of the following: Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, the Center for Precision Psychiatry, the Department of Neuroscience, the Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior and the Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, and with support from the Kavli Institute for Brain Science.
More information and a full schedule can be found here.