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Hippocampal inactivation during rearing on hind legs impairs spatial memory
Dylan Layfield1,2, Nathan Sidell3, Kevin Blankenberger3
1Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, 1101 E 10th St, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA. dlayfiel@iu.edu.
Scientific Reports
|April 15, 2023
Summary
Hippocampal activity during rearing is crucial for spatial memory. Inactivating the dorsal hippocampus during these attentive sampling periods impaired memory performance in rats.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Background:
- The hippocampus is vital for spatial memory.
- Previous research focused on hippocampal function during locomotion and rest.
- The role of hippocampal activity during rearing behaviors in spatial memory remains unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the necessity of dorsal hippocampal activity during rearing epochs for spatial memory formation.
- To determine if inactivating the dorsal hippocampus during rearing affects memory performance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a delayed win-shift task in rats.
- Employed closed-loop, bilateral optogenetic inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus.
- Manipulated hippocampal activity specifically during rearing epochs in the encoding phase.
Main Results:
- Optogenetic inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus during rearing significantly reduced spatial memory accuracy.
- The impairment in spatial memory was selective to the rearing epochs during encoding.
Conclusions:
- Hippocampal activity during rearing behaviors is important for successful spatial memory encoding.
- This study reveals a novel link between hippocampal function during attentive sampling (rearing) and spatial memory.
