What is episodic memory?
Episodic memory is one that is related “to autobiographical and other events, associated with a spatial and temporal context, that can be explicitly reported. As this mental process is altered in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and psychiatric pathologies, knowing the mechanisms that regulate it can be useful to develop more specific and effective treatments”, explained Camila Zold, leader of the work and CONICET researcher at the Institute of Physiology and Biophysics Bernardo Houssay (IFIBIO, CONICET-UBA).
The researcher, interviewed by the journalist Martín Suárez from Tiempo Argentino, stressed that “recognizing the neural circuits of episodic memories and the mechanisms that control their evocation is relevant to better understand a fundamental process for the survival of living beings.”
The conclusion of the study, carried out on rodents, was that an increase in the synchronization between the ventral hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex is essential for the recall of the most important memory trace and the correct resolution of tasks.
The animals used contextual information to discriminate between an object (a jar or a bottle) that they already knew but had never seen before; and another that they had already seen in that place. The rodents that successfully resolved the situation were those that quickly recognized the object that they had never seen in advance. In contrast, the rodents that performed poorly, the synchronization between the medial prefrontal cortex and the ventral hippocampus was less.
Noelia Weisstaub, CONICET researcher at the Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT, CONICET-INECO Foundation-Favaloro University) and one of the scientists who carried out the study, pointed out that they discovered “that communication between the ventral hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex increases during the exploration of the object that is incongruous with the context and a new object-context association is established as novel.
Using different pharmacological products, the researchers disconnected the communication between the medial prefrontal cortex and the ventral hippocampus, and found that the animals always performed poorly with the task and the recall of the relevant memory.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
