Topic: hippocampal-dependent memories

The ability to lay down detailed and specific hippocampal-dependent memories and the capability to retain these over extended periods of time develops gradually . In mice, adult-like hippocampal-dependent memory starts to emerges ~3 weeks of age. Spatial representations (place, grid head direction cells) emerge with a similar timeline and so does memory replay, the spontaneous repetition of experience-related activity patterns. Memory replay is thought to be key to information communication between the hippocampus and neocortex. It is therefore important to assess the developmental timeline of

Sleep deprivation (SD) detrimentally affects hippocampal-dependent memories, notably spatial and fear memories. However, its effect on social recognition memory — crucial for identifying conspecifics, remains unexplored. To address this, we developed a novel protocol to study the effects of SD on long-term social recognition memory (SRM) in adult male C57BL/6J mice. Our study revealed that 6 hours of SD, following a socialization trial, caused amnesia when SRM was assessed 24 hours later.Next, we investigated whether SD causes permanent loss or suboptimal storage of SRM. We employed mouse mode