Unveiling the role of microglia in the formation of the synaptic engram

Anno
2021
Proponente Azka Khan - Dottorando
Sottosettore ERC del proponente del progetto
LS5_5
Componenti gruppo di ricerca
Componente Categoria
Daniele Caprioli Aggiungi Tutor di riferimento (Professore o Ricercatore afferente allo stesso Dipartimento del Proponente)
Abstract

It has become recently possible to identify engram neurons holding memory traces in the brain, by tagging them with actuators to specifically ablate or activate them in relation to a memory task. However, a whole neuron is unlikely to be the unitary substrate of memory and there is a gap between the classic field of synaptic plasticity studies and the emerging field of cell engrams. To fill this gap, a leap from the cellular to the synaptic level is required. We define a synaptic engram as a population of tagged synapses that are necessary and sufficient for the establishment of a given memory. However, ways to experimentally demonstrate synaptic engrams by selectively controlling the activity of potentiated spines were lacking until recently. Prof. Antonino Cattaneo has recently developed a new method to achieve the local expression of actuators at potentiated synapses, enabling their selective tagging following the encoding of a memory. The overarching aim of the project is to exploit this strategy to to enquire to what extent microglia orchestrate and contributes to the induction/formation and consolidation of synaptic memory engrams. This innovative project will allow a quantum leap in our understanding of memory processes.

ERC
LS5_5, LS5_1, LS6_3
Keywords:
NEUROSCIENZE, NEUROFISIOLOGIA, NEUROFISIOLOGIA, MEMORIA

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