英国牛津大学David Dupret和Charlie J. Clarke-Williams共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们研究发现了协调抵抗记忆消失的大脑分布式网络活动。相关研究成果2024年1月18日在线发表于《细胞》杂志上。
据介绍，某些记忆抗拒消失，以继续激发适应不良的行为。这些记忆的稳定性可能取决于它们在多个大脑区域的神经元群体中的广泛分布。然而，分散的神经元活动是如何集体组织起来以支持持续的记忆引导行为的，这一点尚不清楚。
研究人员同时监测了小鼠大脑的前额叶皮层、伏隔核、杏仁核、海马体和腹侧被盖区（VTA），从最初回忆到记忆消失后的可卡因体验记忆更新。研究人员发现了一种高阶的短暂β频率（15–25 Hz）活动模式，在记忆检索过程中，这些活动在这些网络中短暂协调。来自上游VTA谷氨酸能神经元发散通路的输出，通过较慢的（4-Hz）振荡来驱动这种多网络β波段共激活；其闭环相位信息抑制阻止了可卡因偏向行为的更新。以这种时间结构化的方式结合大脑分布的神经活动，可能构成稳健记忆表达的组织原理。
附：英文原文
Title: Coordinating brain-distributed network activities in memory resistant to extinction
Author: Charlie J. Clarke-Williams, Vítor Lopes-dos-Santos, Laura Lefèvre, Demi Brizee, Adrien A. Causse, Roman Rothaermel, Katja Hartwich, Pavel V. Perestenko, Robert Toth, Colin G. McNamara, Andrew Sharott, David Dupret
Issue&Volume: 2024/01/18
Abstract: Certain memories resist extinction to continue invigorating maladaptive actions. The robustness of these memories could depend on their widely distributed implementation across populations of neurons in multiple brain regions. However, how dispersed neuronal activities are collectively organized to underpin a persistent memory-guided behavior remains unknown. To investigate this, we simultaneously monitored the prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, and ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the mouse brain from initial recall to post-extinction renewal of a memory involving cocaine experience. We uncover a higher-order pattern of short-lived beta-frequency (15–25 Hz) activities that are transiently coordinated across these networks during memory retrieval. The output of a divergent pathway from upstream VTA glutamatergic neurons, paced by a slower (4-Hz) oscillation, actuates this multi-network beta-band coactivation; its closed-loop phase-informed suppression prevents renewal of cocaine-biased behavior. Binding brain-distributed neural activities in this temporally structured manner may constitute an organizational principle of robust memory expression.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.12.018
Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)01350-8