{"id":109417,"date":"2024-10-02T06:49:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T23:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109417"},"modified":"2024-10-02T06:49:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T23:49:47","slug":"researchers-reactivate-memory-circuits-in-mice-to-trigger-shelter-seeking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109417","title":{"rendered":"Researchers Reactivate Memory Circuits in Mice to Trigger Shelter-Seeking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Summary: <\/strong>Researchers have successfully reactivated memory circuits in mice, causing them to seek shelter even when no shelter was present. By stimulating neurons linked to spatial memory, the team activated a previous memory of shelter-seeking behavior.<\/p>\n<p>This study sheds light on how memory circuits work in the brain and could help develop strategies to slow memory loss in neurodegenerative diseases. The findings offer promising insights into reactivating or engineering memory circuits to preserve brain function in cases of memory decline.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Facts<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reactivating neurons caused mice to seek shelter where none existed.<\/li>\n<li>The memory circuit involved spatial memory linked to past experiences.<\/li>\n<li>This research could lead to treatments for memory loss in neurodegenerative diseases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong>Johns Hopkins University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Using a sophisticated brain-imaging system, neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have successfully reactivated a specific memory circuit in mice, causing them to seek out shelter when no shelter is actually present.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The researchers say the study, published Sept. 27 in\u00a0<em>Nature Neuroscience<\/em>, advances understanding of how memories are structured in the mammalian brain.<\/p>\n<p>The findings could one day point to new ways of slowing down or preventing the memory loss that accompanies Alzheimer\u2019s and other neurodegenerative diseases.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the team found that stimulating neurons in two areas of mouse brains \u2014 the nucleus accumbens, also known as the brain\u2019s \u201cpleasure center\u201d responsible for relaying dopamine-dependent behaviors, and the dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), responsible for defensive behavior \u2014 reactivated a \u201cspatial memory\u201d and caused the mice to seek shelter.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><picture fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-104936\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence-300x190.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence-770x488.jpg.webp 770w, https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence-293x186.jpg.webp 293w, https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence-150x95.jpg.webp 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"761\" src=\"https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence.jpg\" alt=\"This shows the activated circuits.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence-770x488.jpg 770w, https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence-293x186.jpg 293w, https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/files\/2024\/10\/shelter-seeking-memory-neurosicence-150x95.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/> <\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A light-sheet microscope 3D image displays the convergence of dopaminergic transmitter inputs from the ventral tegmental area (green), a midbrain structure associated with reward and motivation, and glutamatergic inputs from the ventral hippocampus (red), an area deep within the brain that helps with navigation, onto the nucleus accumbens. Credit: Kanghoon Jung<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen we artificially reactivate those memory circuits in the brain, it triggers the mouse to do the same thing it did naturally, even without the fear stimuli that cause them to seek shelter to begin with,\u201d says senior author\u00a0Hyungbae Kwon, Ph.D., associate professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>The scientists say they aimed to map out which areas of the brain are responsible for navigating one\u2019s surroundings, a high-level cognitive function among mammals, including humans.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, these experiments, which tested whether such cognitive brain functions can be replayed randomly, may have applications in understanding how other mammals behave, perceive and sense their environment.<\/p>\n<p>In the new experiments, the researchers first allowed laboratory mice to explore their surroundings in a box with a shelter in the corner. The team placed a series of visual cues, including triangles, circles and stripes in different colors, to help the mice locate the shelter based on nearby landmarks. The mice acclimated to the area for seven minutes, entering and exiting the shelter.<\/p>\n<p>Then, the researchers added a visual or auditory looming signal to spur them to seek shelter \u2013 also forming a spatial memory relative to their location and the visual cues.<\/p>\n<p>To selectively tag shelter memory neurons, the researchers used a light-activated gene-expression switching system called Cal-light, which Kwon\u00a0developed in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Once the scientists identified these neurons in the nucleus accumbens, they switched on expression of the genes associated with them, reactivating the shelter-seeking memory in mice while also activating neurons in the dPAG.<\/p>\n<p>In turn, the mice sought out the area of the box where the shelter had once been, when neither the original threat nor the shelter were present.<\/p>\n<p>To get to this point, the researchers first selectively activated neurons in the nucleus accumbens and then, separately, in the dPAG, to see whether switching on neurons in just one area of the brain would cause this behavior.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSurprisingly, we found that the mice did not seek out shelter when we activated neurons in the nucleus accumbens alone,\u201d Kwon says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhereas switching on neurons in the dPAG caused the mice to react randomly, but did not guide them specifically to the area where they sought shelter before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Cal-light system allowed us to selectively tag a specific function in the brain, helping us to map out memory on a cellular level,\u201d says Kwon.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, Kwon says this research could provide a foundation for reactivating or engineering memory circuits in people with Alzheimer\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we understand the macro-level structure of memory, then we may be able to develop more effective strategies to prevent or slow down neurodegenerative diseases using this method,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers say they hope to understand brain-wide memory structure by selectively tagging and reactivating neurons with different functions in different areas of the brain that lead to other specific behaviors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnderstanding how all of these memory circuits work together will help us understand brain function better,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Other researchers involved in the study are Kanghoon Jung, Sarah Kr\u00fcssel, Sooyeon Yoo, Benjamin Burke, Nicholas Schappaugh, Youngjin Choi and Seth Blackshaw of Johns Hopkins; Myungmo An of the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience; and Zirong Gu and Rui M. Costa of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University and the Allen Institute.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Funding: <\/strong>Funding for this work was provided by the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, a National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Grant and National Institutes of Health Grants R01MH107460, 5U19NS104649, K99 NS119788, DK108230 and DP1MH119428.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About this memory and neuroscience research news<\/h2>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Author: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#65040604170a090454250f0d104b000110\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alexandria Carolan<\/a><br \/><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jhu.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Johns Hopkins University<\/a><br \/><strong>Contact: <\/strong>Alexandria Carolan \u2013 Johns Hopkins University<br \/><strong>Image: <\/strong>The image is credited to Kanghoon Jung<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Original Research: <\/strong>Open access.<br \/>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41593-024-01770-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dopamine-mediated formation of a memory module in the nucleus accumbens for goal-directed navigation<\/a>\u201d by Kanghoon Jung et al. <em>Nature Neuroscience<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-pale-cyan-blue-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-background\"\/>\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dopamine-mediated formation of a memory module in the nucleus accumbens for goal-directed navigation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spatial memories guide navigation efficiently toward desired destinations. However, the neuronal and circuit mechanisms underlying the encoding of goal locations and its translation into goal-directed navigation remain unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Here we demonstrate that mice rapidly form a spatial memory of a shelter during shelter experiences, guiding escape behavior toward the goal location\u2014a shelter\u2014when under threat.<\/p>\n<p>Dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area and their projection to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) encode safety signals associated with the shelter.<\/p>\n<p>Optogenetically induced phasic dopamine signals are sufficient to create a place memory that directs escape navigation.<\/p>\n<p>Converging dopaminergic and hippocampal glutamatergic inputs to the NAc mediate the formation of a goal-related memory within a subpopulation of NAc neurons during shelter experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Artificial co-activation of this goal-related NAc ensemble with neurons in the dorsal periaqueductal gray was sufficient to trigger memory-guided, rather than random, escape behavior.<\/p>\n<p>These findings provide causal evidence of cognitive circuit modules linking memory with goal-directed action.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- Form created by Optin Forms plugin by WPKube: create beautiful optin forms with ease! --> <!-- https:\/\/wpkube.com\/ --><!--optinforms-form5-container--> <!-- \/ Optin Forms --> <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/memory-trigger-neuroscience-27745\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary: Researchers have successfully reactivated memory circuits in mice, causing them to seek shelter even when no shelter was present. 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