Engrams as a substrate for information storage
How is learned information stored in the brain and how does it interact with the innate representations to enable adaptive behaviour? The result of plasticity that accounts for a given memory can be broadly referred to as an engram. In recent years, the term engram has been operationalized as an ensemble of cells that is activated by a learning experience, undergoes plasticity, and enables specific memory recall. Engram labelling methodologies are now opening new avenues for investigating how learned and innate representations are behaviourally expressed.
In this seminar, I will introduce the background of the broader memory engram field. I will describe how engram cell labelling methodologies allow us to genetically label, observe, and manipulate the specific ensembles of neurons that encode particular memories in the rodent brain. I will then describe our recent research on innate and acquired forms or long-term forgetting in the mouse, by focussing on natural forgetting in adults and infantile amnesia during development. I will outline a novel framework that considers both natural and pathological forgetting to be predictive processes that involve the interaction of a subject’s priors with perceptual experience. I will introduce a perspective whereby instincts can be conceived as innately constructed ensembles that can functionally interact with memory engrams. Finally, I will describe our recent research into how engrams formed under thermal challenges can influence brain-body interactions to regulate whole body metabolism.
Date:
4 September 2024, 16:00 (Wednesday, 20th week, Trinity 2024)
Venue:
Sherrington Library, off Parks Road OX1 3PT
Venue Details:
Sherrington Building
Speaker:
Associate Professor Tomás Ryan (Trinity College Dublin)
Organising department:
Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG)
Organiser:
Professor Andrew King (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
events@dpag.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Professor Andrew King (University of Oxford)
Part of:
Neuroscience Theme Guest Speakers (DPAG)
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Hannah Simm
