A study on the effects of learning on the properties of rats hippocampal-prefrontal connections in a memory task.
10.7507/1001-5515.202312042
- Author:
Shuangyan LI
1
;
Weiran ZHENG
1
;
Lan A
1
;
Longlong WANG
1
;
Suhong LIU
1
;
Hui LIU
1
Author Information
1. State Key Laboratory of Reliability and Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, P. R. China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Causal connections;
Dynamic causal model;
Hippocampus;
Learning and memory;
Prefrontal cortex
- MeSH:
Animals;
Hippocampus/physiology*;
Rats;
Prefrontal Cortex/physiology*;
Memory/physiology*;
Maze Learning/physiology*;
Learning/physiology*;
Male
- From:
Journal of Biomedical Engineering
2024;41(6):1095-1102
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
The transmission and interaction of neural information between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex play an important role in learning and memory. However, the specific effects of learning memory-related tasks on the connectivity characteristics between these two brain regions remain inadequately understood. This study employed in vivo microelectrode recording to obtain local field potentials (LFPs) from the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in eight rats during the performance of a T-maze task, assessed both before and after task learning. Additionally, dynamic causal modeling (DCM) was utilized to analyze alterations in causal connectivity between the vHPC and the mPFC during memory task execution pre- and post-learning. Results indicated the presence of forward connections from vHPC to mPFC and backward connections from mPFC to vHPC during the T-maze task. Moreover, the forward connection between these brain regions was slightly enhanced after task learning, whereas the backward connection was diminished. These changes in connectivity corresponded with the observed trends when the rats correctly performed the T-maze task. In conclusion, this study may facilitate future investigations into the underlying mechanisms of learning and memory from the perspective of connectivity characteristics between distinct brain regions.
