Analysis of hippocampal-prefrontal cortex interaction during spatial exploratory behavior

JAVIER GONZALEZ SANABRIA; JUAN E BELFORTE; CAMILA L. ZOLD

Congreso; XXXIII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2018

The hippocampus (HP) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) have long been known to play a central role in diverse behavioral and cognitive functions. These structures are connected by multi-synaptic routes, and by a monosynaptic unidirectional projection from ventral HP to medial PFC that is known to be altered in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The vHP-PFC interactions are likely to be important during behaviors in which both structures are involved and when their different functions need to be coordinated. In particular, the vHP-PFC connection is thought to play a key role in the modulation of emotional behaviors such as fear and anxiety. The hippocampus shows prominent theta oscillations during different behaviors and during REM sleep. It has been shown that many prefrontal neurons are modulated by this theta rhythm. The ongoing project focuses to understand the role of vHP-PFC interaction in mice performing exploratory behaviors. We aim to record simultaneously from the mPFC and vHP in mice performing a battery of exploratory tasks with different degrees of cognitive and emotional loads. We will analyze the correlation between vHP and mPFC activity and the phase locking of mPFC spikes to the hippocampal theta rhythm.