Topic: CA1 place cells

The concept of a cognitive map posits that the brain maintains an internal representation of space. This map is represented in cells of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, which carry information about the animal’s location in an environment. These representations are adaptable to changes in the environment; for example, the number of hippocampal place cells that encode a particular location will increase if a reward is delivered at that location. We aimed to investigate what information the two regions of the entorhinal cortex – medial and lateral – may contribute during reward-guided spat

Growing evidence implicates the gut microbiome in brain health and disease. Since worldwide consumption of oral antibiotics continues to rise, it is imperative to understand how microbiome-depleting antibiotics affect cognition. We studied a murine model in which mice drank water containing an antibiotic cocktail (ABX group) or untreated water (CON group). Separate cohorts received butyrate, a key microbiome-derived metabolite, either in the presence (ABXBA group) or absence (BA group) of antibiotics. The four groups were tested at 4 weeks of treatment. We assessed hippocampus–related spatial

The hippocampus' role in spatial cognition is well-established, with place cells encoding environmental spatial information and interneurons modulating neural circuitry. Our research explores the role of NEIL3, a DNA glycosylase, in hippocampal neural processing. To determine the role of NEIL3 in the functioning of hippocampal neurons, we conducted in-vivo electrophysiological recordings to measure the activity of place cells and inhibitory interneurons in the hippocampus of both wild-type mice and mice lacking NEIL3 (Neil3-/-). We found that NEIL3-deficient CA1 place cells maintain normal spa