| Project Detail |
The ability of neuronal networks to process and store information relies on the activity of diverse subclasses of inhibitory interneurons (INs). While the importance of inhibition in controlling key features of network function is being increasingly appreciated, the understanding of the role of INs in neuronal networks function is limited by the incomplete knowledge of the connectivity between the different IN subclasses and pyramidal cells. Such gap of knowledge is even more evident when considering the connectivity between INs and engram cells, i.e. subgroups of pyramidal neurons encoding specific memories. In this conceptual framework, the InGATE project will analyze specific amygdalo-hippocampal circuits involved in valence coding, where memories of stimuli imbued with negative or positive valence segregate in different engram cells in the BLA. InGATE will test the hypothesis that two broad INs subclasses, the parvalbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SST) expressing INs, differentially gate aversive or rewarding information from the BLA to the CA1 region of the ventral hippocampus. To this end, I will analyze the functional connectivity between BLA aversive or rewarding engram cells (formed during fear or reward conditioning) to pyramidal cells and PV/SST interneurons in vCA1. In parallel, I will study vCA3 Schaffer collaterals converging on those vCA1 pyramidal cells and PV/SST interneurons that receive inputs from the BLA aversive or rewarding engram cells. Thus, the ultimate goal of InGATE is to clarify how PV or SST interneurons shape engram cells in vCA1 by integrating valence-related information from BLA and multisensory contextual information from the vCA3 area. InGATE will combine several state-of-the-art methodological approaches to generate, identify and manipulate aversive or rewarding BLA engrams and isolate their targets in vCA1. In addition, it will exploit an in vivo approach to measure population activity of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in vCA1. |
