What was the surgery of patient H.M and why?
strong epilepsis
—> Bilateral lobectomy (part of Hippocampus was removed)
What were the consequences of the opertation of H.M?
Memories established before lesion ⟹ NORMAL
New short-term (up to a few minutes) memories ⟹ NORMAL
Creation of new long-term explicit memories ⟹ IMPAIRED
Development of new long-lasting implicit memory ⟹ NORMAL
What were the findings of patient HM?
medial temporal lobes:
formation of semantic / episodic long-term memories
working memory not rely on MTL
lexical memory not rely on MTL
spatial memory associated with hippocampus
What is learning and memory?
Learning —> process, organism gets knowledge of world
Memory —> process, knowledge is encoded, stored, retrieved
What is the explicit memory?
(declarative memory)
recalled by conscious effort —> you are aware trying to remember sth
factual knowledge of people, places, things, events
e.g. try to remember wedding date
What is the implicit memory?
(non-declarative memory)
recalled unconsciously —> skills, habits and tasks that are performed automatically
e.g riding bicycle / driving car
What are the two forms of long term memory?
What is part of the rodent hippocampus and what are their functions?
CA1 cell —> receives input from CA3 via Schaffer colateralis
CA3 cell —> recieves input from dentate gyrus
dentate gyrus —> receives input from entorhinal cortex, projects to C3
What do understand under the term synaptic plasticity?
ability of synapses (connections btw neurons) to strenghthen / weaken over time in response to increase / decrease in their activity
—> fundamental for learning and memory
What is the Hebb rule?
simultaneous activation of neurons —> increase in strength of synaptic connection
‘Neurons that fire together get wired together’
What are the different forms of synaptic plasticity?
PTP (post-tetanic potentiation)
STP (short-term potentiation)
LTP (long-term potentiation)
LTD (long-term depression)
depotentiation
What is the Long-Term Potentiation and where has it been found?
persistent increase in synaptic strength that can rapidly induced by brief neural activity
found in mammalian…
neocortical regions
subcortical nuclei
peripheral nervous system
What are the receptors, involved in LTP?
AMPA
—> homotetramers / heterotetramers
subunits: GluA 1-4
NMDA
—> heterotetramers
subunits: GluN1 + one of GluN2
GABA
—> heteropentamers
subunits: a, b, g, d type
Describe the NMDA Receptor.
Agonists —> Glutamate + NMDA
Coagonists —> Glycine + D-serine
Antagonists —> AP5
Channel Blockers —> Mg²⁺
Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ can pass into the cell
K⁺ can pass out of the cell
Describe the AMPA Receptor.
Agonists —> Glutamate + AMPA
Antagonists —> NBQX
Na⁺ (and small amounts of Ca²⁺) can pass into the cell
interact with GRIP, SAP-97 and others
What is a major determant of synaptic plasticity, and probably underlies learning and memory?
Synaptic strength and Ca++ permeability of glutamate postsynaptic complexes
What was the original LTP study?
on anaesthesized rabbits’ hippocampus
Brief high-frequency stimulation of the perforant pathway
Produced long-lasting enhancement of the extracellular recorded field potential
How does the demonstration of LTP works?
stimulating electrode in Schaffer Collateralis
recording pipette in CA1
single puls to Schaffer in CA1 recorded —> baseline
100Pulses/100Hz delivered to Schaffer
increased EPSP in CA1 after single pulse
What is ‘Patch Clamping’?
record from a single cell
—> clamp cell at different potentials
clamp (Klemme)
How does the normal glutamatergic synaptic transmission work?
Glutamate released from postsynaptic neuron
Glutamate binds to specific receptors (AMPA, NMDA)
—> ion channels open
—> Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ in neuon
—> depolarization and generation of EPSP
Ca²⁺ influx through NMDA receptors activates pathways
—> long-term changes in synaptic strength (LTP)
terminated by removal of glutamate
How can be LTP inducted?
Glutamate release
Glutamate activates NMDA, AMPA receptors
AMPA receptors depolarize membrane
—> removing Mg²⁺ block from NMDA receptors
Ca²⁺ enters through NMDA receptors
Ca²⁺ activates kinases
AMPA receptors are inserted
Dendritic spines grow and stabilize
Long-term changes in gene expression and protein synthesis stabilize LTP
When does the NMDA receptor channel open?
only during depolarization.
What does LTP require?
active synapse
depolarization of postsynaptic neuron
removal of Mg2+-block
When does synaptic strengthening occur?
when NT binds to depolarized post synaptic membrane
How does a synapse grow?
dendritic spines are split after LTP —> new growth
split snapses —> production of new synapses
What are the three LTP phases?
LTP1 ( < 3-6 hours)
blocked by protein kinease inhibitors
not blocked by protein synthesis inhibitors
LTP2 (hours)
blocked by translational inhibitors
LTP3 (days)
animal unanaesthesized at time of induction
may require gene expression
What is the maintenance of synaptic plasticity?
LTP results in insertion of new AMPA receptors into dendrite
more glutamate receptors —> stronger potentials in active synapse
AMPA receptors located inside dendrite —> move to tips of spines after LTP induction
How can LTP be stabilized?
by adrenergic receptor activation
better memories when paying attention bc of higher emotional stimulation
—> small amount of stress helps to learn better
Name some important discoveries in the hippocampus over the years.
Place cells —> always fire at specific location
Head Direction cells —> always fire when in certain orientation to landmark (internal compass)
Grid cells —> cells fire in grids of hexagons (create cognitive maps of space)
Border cells —> mostly active when approaching border
Speed cells —> firing rate follows animals speed
Where is the Hippocampus involved?
learning and memory
explciit memory, long-term memory
spatial processing and navigating
Long term potentiation - what are the main players?
Process?
main player: AMPA and NMDA receptor
removal of Mg2+ block and Ca2+ influx through NMDA receptors
Ca2+ activates Kineases
neuronal response of postsynaptic site is potentiated
Why are Hippcampus place cells called ‘navigator on the ocean’?
update the estimate of location using two types of inputs:
path integration (grid cell)
sightings
place, grid, border and head direction cells form complex network insde hippocampus —> comprehensive positioning system (inner GPS)
place and grid cells provide system for anchoring our memories
grid cell system as primary concept —> Non-spatial things
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