RUI: The Functional Significance of Hippocampal Plasticity

Davidson College, Davidson NC

Investigators

Abstract

How the brain reorganizes itself after an injury and whether this reorganization alters the brain's ability to function are among the great mysteries in modern neuroscience. Gaining an understanding of whether this injury-induced reorganization promotes return to, enhances, or impedes communication across brain areas will provide insights into how this brain plasticity might contribute to fundamental functions required for learning and memory. This project uses electrophysiological techniques to ascertain whether two distinct brain areas, i.e. the septum and the entorhinal cortex, that have undergone a rewiring induced by an injury to the brain's cortex interact to alter the function of a third area with which they are connected, i.e. the hippocampus -- a key player in learning and memory. Dr. Ramirez and his students have previously shown that accelerating the reorganization of entorhinal connections to the hippocampus promotes the return of memory function. This project will shed light on whether the interaction of the septum and the entorhinal cortex may promote this functional improvement. The project will thereby provide clues as to how the interaction of separate brain regions may cooperate to promote learning and memory. An essential component of the research program is the education and training of undergraduate students in neuroscience. Students will be recruited from the majority, underrepresented minority groups, disabled groups, and socially/financially disadvantaged students to participate as "junior" colleagues in the research to be undertaken. Each student will be trained intensively in every facet of the proposed research project, from animal care through electrophysiological experimentation to the preparation and assessment of brain tissue. Creating a cadre of students at Davidson College invested in scientific research may energize other students and faculty in the natural and social sciences as well as in the neuroscience program to pursue scientific adventure.