Neuroscience 2005 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 776.7 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | Hippocampal unit activity during continuous and delayed T-maze spatial alternation. |
| Authors: |
Robitsek, R. J.*1,2
; Fortin, N.1,2
; Eichenbaum, H.1,2
1Dept. of Psychology, Boston Univ., Boston, MA 2Center for Memory and Brain, Boston Univ., Boston, MA |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
Cognition and Behavior - Animal Cognition and Behavior -- Learning and memory: Physiology and imaging |
| Session: |
776. Learning and Memory: Hippocampus and Perirhinal Cortex Poster |
| Presentation Time: | Tuesday, November 15, 2005 3:00 PM-4:00 PM |
| Location: | Washington Convention Center - Hall A-C, Board # RR7 |
| Keywords: | Hippocampus, Place Cells, Memory, Maze |
When rats perform a continuous alternation task on a T-maze, many hippocampal neurons fire differentially on left and right turn trials, even when they traverse the stem of the maze that is common to both types of episodes (Wood et al. Neuron 27:623, 2000). Wood & Ainge (SFN 2003 #91.1) found that continuous alternation can be performed without an intact hippocampus, but the hippocampus is critical when a delay is enforced between alternations. To examine whether firing patterns differ in hippocampal-independent and hippocampal-dependent tasks, we recorded the activity of CA1 neurons while rats performed the task continuously or were restrained on each trial for 30 sec. in the start area. Preliminary observations indicated that some cells have different patterns of activity in the two conditions related to differences in behavior. For example, in the delay condition, some cells fired robustly when the animal was held in, or as it left the start area. However, other cells showed differential firing during traversal of the stem on left- and right-turn trials that was qualitatively similar in both conditions, albeit generally the firing rates were higher in the continuous than in the delay condition. Notably, in the delay condition, some cells fired robustly as the animal traversed a return arm approaching the start area, or as it traversed the stem, only when the subsequent choice was correct but not when the animal subsequently made an error. These results suggest that memory-related firing patterns of hippocampal neurons are similar regardless of whether the task requires hippocampal function. The preliminary findings also suggest that the firing rates of hippocampal neurons predict success in the hippocampal-dependent version of the task.
Supported by NIH MH51570, AG09973, DA16454, NSF SBE0354378
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2005 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience, 2005. Online.
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