Topic: Memory mechanisms

The programme follows memory mechanisms from molecular and cellular processes through synapses, microcircuits and distributed brain networks. It connects engram formation and synaptic plasticity with encoding, consolidation, persistence and flexibility. Sessions examine transcriptional, translational, epigenetic and RNA regulation, together with neuromodulation, before considering circuit vulnerability and memory disruption in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Novel methods and unresolved questions connect the different biological scales. A satellite symposium on synapses and c

Memory mechanisms remain elusive in their system implementation. Previous research, combining fMRI and electrophysiology in anaesthetized rats, has shown that synaptic plasticity in the Dentate Gyrus (DG) orchestrates coordination in memory-related brain networks. By employing graph theory and pharmacogenetic tools, we further unveiled a hierarchy in system-level communication that highlighted interactions between the hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex. However, whether a similar functional architecture supports brain coordination in awake behaving animals remains unknown.Us