Piromalli Girado D, Miranda M, Giachero M, Weisstaub N, Bekinschtein P. Endocytosis is required for consolidation of pattern-separated memories in the perirhinal cortex.
Front Syst Neurosci 2023;
17:1043664. [PMID:
36911226 PMCID:
PMC9995888 DOI:
10.3389/fnsys.2023.1043664]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction
The ability to separate similar experiences into differentiated representations is proposed to be based on a computational process called pattern separation, and it is one of the key characteristics of episodic memory. Although pattern separation has been mainly studied in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, this cognitive function if thought to take place also in other regions of the brain. The perirhinal cortex is important for the acquisition and storage of object memories, and in particular for object memory differentiation. The present study was devoted to investigating the importance of the cellular mechanism of endocytosis for object memory differentiation in the perirhinal cortex and its association with brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which was previously shown to be critical for the pattern separation mechanism in this structure.
Methods
We used a modified version of the object recognition memory task and intracerebral delivery of a peptide (Tat-P4) into the perirhinal cortex to block endocytosis.
Results
We found that endocytosis is necessary for pattern separation in the perirhinal cortex. We also provide evidence from a molecular disconnection experiment that BDNF and endocytosis-related mechanisms interact for memory discrimination in both male and female rats.
Discussion
Our experiments suggest that BDNF and endocytosis are essential for consolidation of separate object memories and a part of a time-restricted, protein synthesis-dependent mechanism of memory stabilization in Prh during storage of object representations.
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