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A Lateralized Odor Learning Model in Neonatal Rats for Dissecting Neural Circuitry Underpinning Memory Formation
Published on: August 18, 2014
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The olfactory bulb coordinates the ventral hippocampus-medial prefrontal cortex circuit during spatial working memory
Morteza Salimi1, Farhad Tabasi1,2, Milad Nazari3,4,5
1Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
The Journal of Physiological Sciences : JPS
|April 26, 2022
Summary
The olfactory bulb (OB) synchronizes with the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during spatial working memory. Enhanced OB-vHPC-mPFC connectivity, particularly at delta and gamma frequencies, supports correct task performance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
Background:
- Neural oscillations are crucial for synchronizing brain activity during cognitive tasks like spatial working memory.
- Olfactory bulb (OB) oscillations influence neocortical and limbic regions, but their role in spatial working memory circuits is unclear.
- Understanding OB functional connectivity with the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is vital for cognitive function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the functional interaction between the OB and the vHPC-mPFC circuit during spatial working memory performance in rats.
- To determine how OB oscillations modulate vHPC-mPFC circuit activity during correct versus incorrect spatial working memory trials.
Main Methods:
- Simultaneous local field potential recordings from the OB, vHPC, and mPFC in rats performing a Y-maze task.
- Analysis of brain activity differences between correct and incorrect trials, focusing on functional connectivity and oscillatory coherence.
- Cross-frequency coupling analysis to assess modulatory roles of OB oscillations on vHPC-mPFC activity.
Main Results:
- vHPC-mPFC coupling was significantly augmented during correct spatial working memory trials.
- Enhanced OB coherence with the vHPC-mPFC circuit was observed in the delta (< 20094 Hz) and gamma (50-80 Hz) frequency bands during correct trials.
- OB delta phase positively modulated mPFC gamma power, and OB oscillations showed increased correlation with the vHPC-mPFC circuit at delta frequencies during correct trials.
Conclusions:
- The olfactory bulb plays a functional role in modulating the vHPC-mPFC circuit during spatial working memory.
- Enhanced synchronized activity between the OB and the vHPC-mPFC circuit, particularly in delta and gamma frequencies, is associated with successful spatial working memory performance.
- These findings highlight the OB's contribution to higher-order cognitive functions beyond olfaction.
Keywords:
Functional connectivityMedial prefrontal cortexOlfactory bulbVentral hippocampusWorking memoryMore Related Videos
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