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Investigating Neuronal Circuits in Behavioral Flexibility: Broadening Knowledge of this Cognitive Capacity

Grant number: 24/09394-6
Support Opportunities:Scholarships abroad - Research
Start date: January 13, 2025
End date: January 12, 2026
Field of knowledge:Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
Principal Investigator:Andrea Aurélio Borges
Grantee:Andrea Aurélio Borges
Host Investigator: Jacqueline Barker
Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
Institution abroad: Drexel University College Of Medicine, United States  

Abstract

Behavioral flexibility is crucial for adjusting our actions to unexpected changes, being essential for both survival and social interactions. A deficit in this capacity is a prominent feature of neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and substance use disorder (SUD). Although we know that the striatum and the hippocampal formation play important roles in this process, the exact neural pathways have not been fully understood yet.This research project aims to investigate how cortico-striatal and cortico-hippocampal projections influence cognitive flexibility. To achieve this goal, we will employ in vivo electrophysiology techniques combined with a behavioral flexibility task in mice, allowing us to record neuronal activity in these regions during the test. Additionally, we will perform optogenetic manipulations of the circuit of interest and evaluate how each pathway influences flexibility behavior. This approach will enable us to obtain data on the specific role of these brain regions in this cognitive process.By exploring these neural pathways, it is expected to comprehensively understand how the brain integrates information and adapts its behavior to new challenges. We hope, thus, to understand part of the mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility, helping to develop new therapeutic approaches for neuropsychiatric disorders associated with behavioral inflexibility.

News published in Agência FAPESP Newsletter about the scholarship:
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