Neuroscience
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We previously reported that inbred, genetically identical mice living in one enriched environment develop individual behavioral trajectories, indicating increasingly different levels of spatial exploratory behavior as quantified by roaming entropy. Cumulative roaming entropy (cRE) correlated positively with adult hippocampal neurogenesis, a type of plasticity involved in the flexible integration of new information into existing contexts (Freund et al., 2013). The study on which we report here was done in parallel to that first experiment, but here we acquired detailed observational data on the behavior of individual mice. ⋯ Adult neurogenesis could not be studied in the present cohort but we do know that under identical conditions, cumulative RE correlated positively with adult hippocampal neurogenesis. We can thus hypothesize that the mice with more exploratory experience in terms of areal coverage (as quantified by RE) and related greater levels of adult hippocampal plasticity, might also be the ones that were less involved in interactions within the group and, hence, more individualistic. While this remains to be confirmed experimentally, the present data suggest that the described mechanism of individualization, which has previously been shown to be hippocampus-dependent, has a social component.
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive inflammatory autoimmune disease that is characterized by demyelination and axonal damage in the nervous system. One obvious consequence is a cumulative loss of muscle control. However, cognitive dysfunction affects roughly half of MS sufferers, sometimes already early in the disease course. ⋯ However, in the late phase, LTP was impaired and LTP-related spatial memory was impaired. In contrast, LTD and hippocampus-dependent object recognition memory were unaffected. These data suggest that in an animal model of MS hippocampal function becomes compromised as the disease progresses.
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The hippocampus has a pivotal role in learning and in the formation and consolidation of memory and is critically involved in the regulation of emotion, fear, anxiety, and stress. Studies of the hippocampus have been central to the study of memory in humans and in recent years, the regional specialization and organization of hippocampal functions have been elucidated in experimental models and in human neurological and psychiatric diseases. ⋯ The high degree of hippocampal neuroplasticity might, however, be also negatively reflected in the pronounced vulnerability of the hippocampus to deleterious conditions such as ischemia, epilepsy, chronic stress, neurodegeneration and aging targeting hippocampal structure and function and leading to cognitive deficits. Considering this framework of plasticity and vulnerability, we here review basic principles of hippocampal anatomy and neuroplasticity on various levels as well as recent findings regarding the functional organization of the hippocampus in light of the regional vulnerability in Alzheimer's disease, ischemia, epilepsy, neuroinflammation and aging.
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The hippocampal CA1 region receives cortical information via two main inputs: directly via the perforant (temporoammonic) path (pp-CA1 synapse) and indirectly via the tri-synaptic pathway. Although synaptic plasticity has been reported at the pp-CA1 synapse of freely behaving animals, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have not been investigated. Here, we explored whether long-term potentiation (LTP) at the pp-CA1 synapse in freely behaving rats requires activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) and L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs). ⋯ Whereas activation of group II mGlu receptors using (1R,2R)-3-((1S)-1-amino-2-hydroxy-2-oxoethyl) cyclopropane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (DCG-IV) dose-dependently reduced basal synaptic transmission elicited by test-pulse stimulation, DCG-IV did not affect LTP in a dose that inhibited LTP at pp-DG synapses in vivo. These data indicate that LTP at the pp-CA1 synapse of freely behaving animals is dually dependent on NMDAR and VGCCs, whereby group II mGlu receptor activation affect basal synaptic tonus, but not LTP. The lower frequency-dependency of NMDA-VGCC LTP at pp-CA1 synapses compared to pp-DG synapses may comprise a mechanism to prioritize information processing at this synapse.
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Hippocampal atrophy, as evidenced using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is one of the most validated, easily accessible and widely used biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, its imperfect sensitivity and specificity have highlighted the need to improve the analysis of MRI data. Based on neuropathological data showing a differential vulnerability of hippocampal subfields to AD processes, neuroimaging researchers have tried to capture corresponding morphological changes within the hippocampus. ⋯ However, controversies remain regarding changes in hippocampal subfield structure in normal aging and regarding correlations between specific subfield volume and memory abilities, very likely because of the strong methodological variability between studies. Overall, hippocampal subfield analysis has proven to be a promising technique in the study of AD. However, harmonization of segmentation protocols and studies on larger samples are needed to enable accurate comparisons between studies and to confirm the clinical utility of these techniques.