Investigating the neural substrates of temporal task learning

• Grant number: 17/03729-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: July 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Bussotti Reyes
• Grantee: Eliezyer Fermino de Oliveira
• Supervisor: Gyorgy Buzsaki
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: NYU Langone Medical Center, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/05473-2 - Eletrophysiologycal caracterization of prefrontal-striatal pathway activity in temporal task learning, BP.MS

Abstract

Perceiving time is important to prepare a behavioral outcome, for example, a walking person needs to know whether he can cross a road or not by estimating if he will have enough time for it before a car comes. Understanding how we learn to time a particular interval is intrinsic to increase our comprehension of time perception and interval time acquisition. Different theories and studies look to unveil the neural basis of this temporal learning. Hippocampus (HPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) play a role in a variety of timing tasks. Besides, our preliminary results suggest that temporal tasks are learned in an abrupt way, not gradually, as is the gradual traditional view. Our aim is to study the HPC and mPFC interaction in a timing task learning. To accomplish such objectives, we are going to massively record both areas with silicon probes (256 channels each) while animal learns a temporal bisection task. Also, we are going to disconnect both areas with optogenetics and a closed-loop approach in off-task periods, where propitious states of learning occur. This will allow us to study (i) HPC-mPFC network interactions in both LFP and spike level. (ii) Identify how does HPC-mPFC change after learning a time task. (iii) Study the causality between HPC-mPFC interaction and timing learning.

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FERNANDEZ-RUIZ, ANTONIO; OLIVA, AZAHARA; DE OLIVEIRA, ELIEZYER FERMINO; ROCHA-ALMEIDA, FLORBELA; TINGLEY, DAVID; BUZSAKI, GYORGY. Long-duration hippocampal sharp wave ripples improve memory. Science, v. 364, n. 6445, SI, p. 1082+, JUN 14 2019. (17/03729-2)

OLIVA, AZAHARA; FERNANDEZ-RUIZ, ANTONIO; DE OLIVEIRA, ELIEZYER FERMINO; BUZSAKI, GYORGY. Origin of Gamma Frequency Power during Hippocampal Sharp-Wave Ripples. CELL REPORTS, v. 25, n. 7, p. 1693+, NOV 13 2018. (17/03729-2)

TUNES, GABRIELA C.; DE OLIVEIRA, ELIEZYER FERMINO; VIEIRA, ESTEVAO U. P.; CAETANO, MARCELO S.; CRAVO, ANDRE M.; BUSSOTTI REYES, MARCELO. Time encoding migrates from prefrontal cortex to dorsal striatum during learning of a self-timed response duration task. eLIFE, v. 11, p. 19-pg., 2022-09-28. (16/05473-2, 14/50909-8, 18/20277-0, 17/03729-2, 17/25161-8)

FERNANDEZ-RUIZ, ANTONIO; OLIVA, AZAHARA; DE OLIVEIRA, ELIEZYER FERMINO; ROCHA-ALMEIDA, FLORBELA; TINGLEY, DAVID; BUZSAKI, GYORGY. Long-duration hippocampal sharp wave ripples improve memory. Science, v. 364, n. 6445, p. 28-pg., 2019-06-14. (17/03729-2)