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Memory mission explores new territory in neuroscience
November 21, 2008Astrophysicists peer into the far corners of deep space for dark matter, but for neuroscientists at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) exploring the unknown is much closer to home.
They have discovered a mechanism vital to the development of the hippocampus * - a region of the brain crucial to the formation of memories, and the lifelong production and integration of new nerve cells.
To say the hippocampus is important is a bit like saying breathing is optimal.
According to QBI's Associate Professor Linda Richards, despite the crucial role performed by the hippocampus throughout life, knowledge of this region's early development remains surprisingly scant. Her research team is looking at how the brain forms during embryonic and foetal development.
Dr Richards and her colleagues have identified a gene that regulates the development of glial cells in the hippocampus. Their research shows that the hippocampus contains different populations of glial cells that are essential for the structural integrity of the hippocampus.
"Glial cells are an important part of the building blocks of the brain," Dr Richards said.
"They provide an essential scaffold for the migration of neurons in the developing brain. It is vital we understand how glial cells provide this structural scaffold because if the hippocampus is not formed correctly it cannot perform all the functions required of it in the developing and adult brain," she said.
"The hippocampus plays an integral role in spatial navigation, learning and memory, and is a major site for adult neurogenesis."
Mice lacking the gene that regulates glial cell differentiation exhibit major developmental irregularities, including catastrophic structural deformities of the hippocampus.
Equipped with this knowledge, researchers studying the hippocampus now have a better understanding of the genes that help control the development of this vital brain region. Fundamental scientific knowledge of this kind is an essential step in understanding brain function and repair.
Research Australia
According to QBI's Associate Professor Linda Richards, despite the crucial role performed by the hippocampus throughout life, knowledge of this region's early development remains surprisingly scant. Her research team is looking at how the brain forms during embryonic and foetal development.
Dr Richards and her colleagues have identified a gene that regulates the development of glial cells in the hippocampus. Their research shows that the hippocampus contains different populations of glial cells that are essential for the structural integrity of the hippocampus.
"Glial cells are an important part of the building blocks of the brain," Dr Richards said.
"They provide an essential scaffold for the migration of neurons in the developing brain. It is vital we understand how glial cells provide this structural scaffold because if the hippocampus is not formed correctly it cannot perform all the functions required of it in the developing and adult brain," she said.
"The hippocampus plays an integral role in spatial navigation, learning and memory, and is a major site for adult neurogenesis."
Mice lacking the gene that regulates glial cell differentiation exhibit major developmental irregularities, including catastrophic structural deformities of the hippocampus.
Equipped with this knowledge, researchers studying the hippocampus now have a better understanding of the genes that help control the development of this vital brain region. Fundamental scientific knowledge of this kind is an essential step in understanding brain function and repair.
Research Australia
Hippocampus Current Events and Hippocampus News RSSU discovery gives insight into brain 'replay' process
The hippocampus, a part of the brain essential for memory, has long been known to "replay" recently experienced events.
Carnegie Mellon research provides insight into brain's decision-making process
Replaying recent events in the area of the brain called the hippocampus may have less to do with creating long-term memories, as scientists have suspected, than with an active decision-making process, suggests a new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Repeated anesthesia can affect childrens ability to learn
There is a link between repeated anaesthesia in children and memory impairment, though physical activity can help to form new cells that improve memory, reveals new research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Learning helps keep brain healthy, UCI researchers find
UC Irvine neurobiologists are providing the first visual evidence that learning promotes brain health - and, therefore, that mental stimulation could limit the debilitating effects of aging on memory and the mind.
Increasing neurogenesis might prevent drug addiction and relapse
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center hope they have begun paving a new pathway in the fight against drug dependence. Their hypothesis - that increasing the normally occurring process of making nerve cells might prevent addiction - is based on a rodent study demonstrating that blocking new growth of specific brain nerve cells increases vulnerability for cocaine addiction and relapse.
Gene mutation is linked to autism-like symptoms in mice, UT Southwestern researchers find
When a gene implicated in human autism is disabled in mice, the rodents show learning problems and obsessive, repetitive behaviors, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
A midday nap markedly boosts the brain's learning capacity
If you see a student dozing in the library or a co-worker catching 40 winks in her cubicle, don't roll your eyes. New research from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that an hour's nap can dramatically boost and restore your brain power.
UCLA researchers image earliest signs of Alzheimer's, before symptoms appear
Estimates are that some 10 percent of people over the age of 65 will develop Alzheimer's disease, the scourge that robs people of their memories and, ultimately, their lives.
Brain scientists extend map of fear memory formation
Draw a map of the brain when fear and anxiety are involved, and the amygdala-the brain's almond-shaped center for panic and fight-or-flight responses-looms large.
Losing sleep, losing brain?
Chronic and severely stressful situations, like those connected to depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, have been associated with smaller volumes in "stress sensitive" brain regions, such as the cingulate region of the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory formation.
More Hippocampus Current Events and Hippocampus News Articles
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The Hippocampus Book (Oxford Neuroscience Series) by Per Andersen (Editor), Richard Morris (Editor), David Amaral (Editor), Tim Bliss (Editor), John O'Keefe (Editor) The hippocampus is one of a group of remarkable structures embedded within the brain's medial temporal lobe. Long known to be important for memory, it has been a prime focus of neuroscience research for many years. The Hippocampus Book promises to facilitate developments in the field in a major way by bringing together, for the first time, contributions by leading international scientists knowledgeable about hippocampal anatomy, physiology, and function. This authoritative volume offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date account of what the hippocampus does, how it does it, and what happens when things go wrong. At the same time, it illustrates how research focusing on this single brain structure has revealed principles of wider generality for the whole brain in relation to anatomical... |
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Neuronal Networks of the Hippocampus by Roger D. Traub (Author), Richard Miles (Author) The questions of how a large population of neurons in the brain functions, how synchronized firing of neurons is achieved, and what factors regulate how many and which neurons fire under different conditions form the central theme of this book. Using a combined experimental-theoretical approach unique in neuroscience, the authors present important new techniques for the physiological reconstruction of a large biological neuronal network. They begin by discussing experimental studies of the CA3 hippocampal region in vitro, focusing on single-cell and synaptic electrophysiology, particularly the effects a single neuron exerts on its neighbors. This is followed by a description of a computer model of the system, first for individual cells then for the entire detailed network, and the model... | |
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Hippocampus: Anatomy, Functions and Neurobiology (Neuroanatomy Research at the Leading Edge) by Ambroise Gartner (Editor), Dener Frantz (Editor) A peculiar feature of the mammalian hippocampus is that it maintains the ability to generate new neurons throughout adult life while most other areas of the brain do not. In this book, we outline evidence for the functional consequences of adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus highlighting a possible role in learning and memory and depression. Presynaptic modulation at the MF synapse is also described with respect to its involvement in the activity-dependent nature of the MF synapse and contribution to physiological functions of MFs. In addition, the hippocampus is one of the first and most affected brain regions impacted by both Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. This book discusses such negative consequences of aging and diseases which may be prevented or reversed by... |
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Gateway to Memory: An Introduction to Neural Network Modeling of the Hippocampus and Learning (Issues in Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology) by Mark A. Gluck (Author), Catherine E. Myers (Author) "Gateway to Memory is an exciting and badly needed text that integrates computational and neurobiological approaches to memory. Authoritative and clearly written, this book will be valuable for students and researchers alike." -- Daniel L. Schacter, Professor and Chair of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Searching for Memory This book is for students and researchers who have a specific interest in learning and memory and want to understand how computational models can be integrated into experimental research on the hippocampus and learning. It emphasizes the function of brain structures as they give rise to behavior, rather than the molecular or neuronal details. It also emphasizes the process of modeling, rather than the mathematical details of the models... |
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Hippocampal Place Fields: Relevance to Learning and Memory by Sheri J.Y. Mizumori (Editor) Data from neuropsychological and animal research suggest that the hippocampus plays a pivotal role in two relatively different areas: active navigation, as well as episodic learning and memory. Recent studies have attempted to bridge these disparate accounts of hippocampal function by emphasizing the role that hippocampal place cells may play in processing the spatial contextual information that defines situations in which learned behaviors occur. A number of established laboratories are currently offering complementary interpretations of place fields, and this book will present the first common platform for them. Bringing together research from behavioral, genetic, physiological, computational, and neural-systems perspectives will provide a thorough understanding of the extent to which... |
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Big Man on Hippocampus Also With: Fox (Producer) | |
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Neurologie Und Rehabilitation by Hippocampus Verlag Gmbh | |
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Sea Monsters - Hippocampus - Poseidon's Steed Seahorse with Celtic Knot Sterling Silver Pendant by Silver Insanity The legendary seahorse was a fabled sea monster that pulled Poseidon's chariot. In truth, these unique creatures are monogamous (very rare) and about two inches tall. This detailed seahorse pendant has a Celtic knotworked body with a flat back. Beautifully detailed and crafted of nickel-free sterling silver and marked 925.1&5/8" High Bail Included and 5/8" Wide3x5mm Bail Opening for ChainWeight is About 3.5 gramsNickel Free Sterling SilverMarked 925 No chain is included with the pendant Add a Sterling Silver Chain to your pendant for $5.89 (Save 50%)- available at Checkout in Gift Options |
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Groovin' in the Hippocampus by Lisa Jones Bromfield | |
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The Human Hippocampus: Functional Anatomy, Vascularization and Serial Sections with MRI by Henri M. Duvernoy (Author), F. Cattin (Assistant), T.P. Naidich (Assistant), C. Raybaud (Assistant), P.Y. Risold (Assistant), U. Salvolini (Assistant), U. Scarabino (Assistant) This book offers a precise description of the anatomy and structure of the human hippocampus as well as a survey of the current concepts about its functions and their clinical implications. Chapters on vascularization and three-dimensional MRI complete the study and round off this comprehensive view of human hippocampal anatomy. It will be of interest to neuroscientists and, in paticular, neurologists, neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons concerned with epilepsy. |
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