Unraveling the object recognition memory system, flexibility, compensation and adaptation

KATCHE, CYNTHIA; LOPES DA CUNHA, PAMELA; OELSCHLEGEL A; MONCADA D; MEDINA JH; GOLDSCHMIDT, J; DE LANDETA, ANA BELÉN

Congreso; xxxviii congreso anual de la sociedad argentina de investigaciones en neurociencias; 2023

The retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is involved in navigation and contextual memory, functions that are essential for an individual’s life. Our findings in rodents showed that the RSC is required for object recognition memory (ORM) consolidation and retrieval only when it is intact during acquisition. If this does not happen a RSC-independent memory is formed. However, cerebral activity patterns exhibited an increase in RSC activity during retrieval (test session) when the RSC was inactive during acquisition (training session) compared to a non-inactivated group. We suggest that this increase could be due to the flexibility of the ORM system. We observed that when RSC is inactive during memory acquisition (training session) but active during memory retrieval (test session), the RSC is integrated in the memory system, and thus is required for memory updating (after the test session) and retrieval (during re-test). Nevertheless, if RSC is inactive during both memory acquisition and retrieval, the RSC is not integrated into the ORM system. In conclusion, our results showed that the ORM is flexible. We propose that there are several memory circuits, but there is one preferred circuit that is the most efficient to store and retrieve memory. Still, it is possible that the ORM system adapts according to the physiological environment of the brain structures that form the different circuits and modify the main memory circuit when it is damaged to store the information.