CAA: Interactions Between Diencephalic and Hippocampal Memory

Amnesia and other related cognitive problems are often a result of dysfunction of one of three interconnected memory systems: the temporal lobe, the diencephalon, and the basal forebrain. The goal of the present research is to use behavioral and neurochemical assays to examine how the diencephalon modulates the integrative role of the hippocampus-a key temporal lobe structure in memory processing. To investigate these issues a rodent model of diencephalic amnesia, pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency, will be used. Pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency creates lesions within the diencephalon, disrupting many important memory pathways. The loss of diencephalic structures may down-regulate the activation of other memory-related structures such as the hippocampus thereby impairing their contributions to learning and memory processing. To investigate diencephalic-hippocampal interactions in memory processing the proposed studies will use in- vivo microdialysis to determine whether acetylcholine release in the hippocampus, a marker of memory-related activation, is altered in rats with these lesions when learning spatial tasks. The goal of this Minority Career Advancement award is to build upon the recipient's prior research on animal models of memory dysfunction and allow her to advance her research program by learning techniques (in-vivo microdialysis and HPLC) to examine functional neurochemical changes associated with learning and memory. This project will provide new insights into understanding how several memory-related brain structures interact