Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Entorhinal Cortex”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,225 records · Page 68Linked to original sources

Functional differentiation within the medial temporal lobe in the rat.

The structures that comprise the medial temporal lobe (MTL) have been implicated in learning and memory. The question of primary concern in the present research was whether the group of anatomically related structures (hippocampus, subiculum, presubiculum/parasubiculum, entorhinal cortex, perirhinal/postrhinal cortex) are involved in mediating a similar memory process or whether the individual structures are differentially involved in memory processes and/or in handling various types of information. A series of five experiments were carried out that involved selectively lesioning the main MTL structures and testing each animal on radial-maze tasks and procedures that provided measures of two different memory processes (reference memory, working memory) and the utilization of two kinds of information (spatial, nonspatial). The structures were found to differ functionally, with the hippocampus and the presubiculum/parasubiculum being especially involved in processing spatial information, and the perirhinal/postrhinal cortex having a specific role in remembering information over a brief time period (working memory). Lesions of the entorhinal cortex failed to affect consistently either memory process or type of information handled, but they did result in impairments in learning the complex spatial discrimination requiring reference memory and in working memory involving nonspatial information. The pattern of behavioral impairments resulting from damage to these discrete MTL structures suggests that several of the structures make unique contributions to learning and memory.

Animals↗

Considerations arising from a complementary learning systems perspective on hippocampus and neocortex.

We discuss a framework for the organization of learning systems in the mammalian brain, in which the hippocampus and related areas form a memory system complementary to learning mechanisms in neocortex and other areas. The hippocampal system stores new episodes and "replays" them to the neocortical system, interleaved with ongoing experience, allowing generalization as cortical memories form. The data to account for include: 1) neurophysiological findings concerning representations in hippocampal areas, 2) behavioral evidence demonstrating a spatial role for hippocampus, 3) and effects of surgical and pharmacological manipulations on neuronal firing in hippocampal regions in behaving animals. We hypothesize that the hippocampal memory system consists of three major modules: 1) an invertible encoder subsystem supported by the pathways between neocortex and entorhinal cortex, which provides a stable, compressed, invertible encoding in entorhinal cortex (EC) of cortical activity patterns, 2) a memory separation, storage, and retrieval subsystem, supported by pathways between EC, dentate gyrus and area CA3, including the CA3 recurrent collaterals, which facilitates encoding and storage in CA3 of individual EC patterns, and retrieval of those CA3 encodings, in a manner that minimizes interference, and 3) a memory decoding subsystem, supported by the Shaffer collaterals from area CA1 to area CA3 and the bi-directional pathways between EC and CA3, which provides the means by which a retrieved CA3 coding of an EC pattern can reinstate that pattern on EC. This model has shown that 1) there is a trade-off between the need for information-preserving, structure-extracting encoding of cortical traces and the need for effective storage and recall of arbitrary traces, 2) long-term depression of synaptic strength in the pathways subject to long-term potentiation is crucial in preserving information, 3) area CA1 must be able to exploit correlations in EC patterns in the direct perforant path synapses.

Amnesia↗

Autoradiographic characterization of putative excitatory amino acid transport sites.

Removal of excitatory amino acids from the extracellular space is now postulated to occur through at least two distinct transport systems that are distinguished by their ionic dependency. Thus, both sodium-dependent and chloride-dependent systems have been described in the mammalian central nervous system. In this report we attempt to characterize these sites by autoradiography, using D-[3H]aspartate and L-[3H]glutamate as ligands. Previous studies have shown that sequestration of radioligand into membrane vesicles can be a potential artifact when examining transport sites. We have found that sequestration can be alleviated by incubation of tissue sections in xylenes prior to incubation with radioligand. Using in vitro autoradiography we have characterized the two binding sites with respect to their distribution, kinetics and pharmacology. Both appeared to have a single, saturable binding site with Kds in the low micromolar range. Sodium-dependent D-aspartate binding predominated, having a Bmax that was five times greater than chloride-dependent L-glutamate binding in whole brain. The levels of binding to the two sites varied between brain regions. Sodium-dependent D-aspartate binding was highest in the cerebellar molecular layer greater than dentate gyrus molecular layer greater than entorhinal cortex. Chloride-dependent L-glutamate binding was highest in the outer layers of cerebral cortex greater than dentate gyrus molecular layer greater than entorhinal cortex greater than striatum. Pharmacological characterization of these sites also showed major differences. Sodium-dependent D-aspartate binding was most potently inhibited by L-aspartate greater than threo-beta-hydroxyaspartate greater than L-cysteine sulfinic acid greater than L-cysteic acid. Chloride-dependent glutamate binding was most potently inhibited by L-glutamate greater than L-alpha-amino adipic acid greater than quisqualate greater than L-serine-o-sulfate. The differences in distribution, ligand binding properties and pharmacology of these sites suggest that a significant variable in excitatory amino acid circuitry may include heterogeneity in transporters associated with excitatory pathways.

Amino Acids↗

[The anticonvulsive effect of 4,4-bis(hydroxymethyl)-2-phenyl-2-oxazoline].

INTRODUCTION: Certain compounds belonging to the family of the 2-aryl oxazolines have been reported to act on the central nervous system with a number of different effects and applications, which make them useful as depressants, anaesthetics, anticonvulsants, and so on. AIMS: Our aim was to study the possible effect of 4,4-bis(hydroxymethyl)-2-phenyl-2-oxazoline (OX), obtained by chemical synthesis using microwaves, in two experimental models of epilepsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two models were used: one involving (repeated stimulation) electroconvulsive shock in mice and the other consisted in inducing audiogenic seizures in Mongolian gerbils. Recordings were performed of the potentials in the dentate gyrus (DG) generated in response to electrical stimulation of the entorhinal cortex in anaesthetised gerbils, using the stereotactic technique. RESULTS: A 150 mg/kg dose of OX lowered the number of electrical pulses required to induce the tonic seizures triggered by the electroshock, as well as their duration. This same dose blocked the seizures induced by audiogenic stimuli in the gerbils and significantly reduced their severity (degrees of seizures) and occurrence. OX diminished, in a dose-dependent manner, the amplitude of the excitatory post-synaptic potential and that of the population spike, triggered by stimulating the entorhinal cortex in the DG. CONCLUSIONS: OX acts as an antiepileptic agent and its mechanism of action could be related to the inhibiting effect it exerts on the entorhinal cortex-DG synapses in the hippocampus.

Animals↗

Ziskind-Somerfeld Research Award 1996. Medial and superior temporal gyral volumes and cerebral asymmetry in schizophrenia versus bipolar disorder.

Prior magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies report both medial and lateral cortical temporal changes and disturbed temporal lobe asymmetries in schizophrenic patients compared with healthy controls. The specificity of temporal lobe (TL) changes in schizophrenia is unknown. We determined the occurrence and specificity of these TL changes. Forty-six schizophrenic patients were compared to 60 normal controls and 27 bipolar subjects on MRI measures of bilateral volumes of anterior and posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG), amygdala, entorhinal cortex, and multiple medial temporal structures, as well as global brain measures. Several regional comparisons distinguished schizophrenia from bipolar disorder. Entorhinal cortex, not previously assessed using MRI in schizophrenia, was bilaterally smaller than normal in schizophrenia but not in bipolar disorder. Schizophrenic but not bipolar patients had an alteration of normal posterior STG asymmetry. Additionally, left anterior STG and right amygdala were smaller than predicted in schizophrenia but not bipolar disorder. Left amygdala was smaller and right anterior STG larger in bipolar disorder but not schizophrenia.

Adolescent↗

Current source density analysis of the potential evoked in hippocampus by perirhinal cortex stimulation.

Previous anatomical research has demonstrated that the perirhinal cortex (PRC) projects to the dorsal hippocampal CA1 field. We have recently presented data (Liu and Bilkey, Hippocampus 1996; 6:125-135) which suggests that this pathway courses via the lateral perforant path (LPP). In the present study, laminar profiles of the average evoked potentials and current source density (CSD) analysis were used to study the input from the perirhinal cortex to the dorsal hippocampus in the urethane-anaesthetized rat. Stimulation of the lateral perforant path activated a current sink in the stratum lacunosum-moleculare of CA1 and the outer molecular layer of the dentate gyrus with an onset latency of 3.5 ms. Stimulation of the perirhinal cortex produced a very similar sink-source pattern with an onset latency of 4.0 ms. Higher-intensity stimulation of lateral entorhinal cortex also produced a similar pattern with an onset latency of 4.5 ms. Electrolytic lesions of PRC conducted 4-5 days prior to testing resulted in a major decrease (58%) in the amplitude of the LPP-elicited potentials and a corresponding reduction across the whole source-sink pattern. A similar result was observed following ibotenic acid lesions of PRC. In contrast, similar-sized electrolytic lesions of lateral entorhinal cortex produced a much smaller (16%) decrease in potential amplitude and little change in the source-sink pattern. These data provide further support for the hypothesis that perirhinal cortex projects to both the dentate gyrus and CA1 regions of the hippocampus via the lateral perforant path.

Afferent Pathways↗

The dual response of protein kinase Fyn to neural trauma: early induction in neurons and delayed induction in reactive astrocytes.

In the developing central nervous system, a src-related protein-tyrosine kinase fyn participates in the myelination process, neuronal growth, and cytoskeletal organization. In adults, fyn has been implicated in learning and memory formation. To test if fyn expression is modulated by neuronal activity, we performed quantitative in situ hybridization (ISH) using brain sections of the adult rats that had undergone either kainic acid (KA)-induced seizures or neuronal deafferentation (entorhinal cortex lesion, ECL). In the KA model, a few hours after seizure activities, fyn mRNA was elevated in the dentate gyrus (DG) (+45%), cerebral cortex layer III (+35%), and piriform cortex (+25%). Conversely, fyn mRNA consistently decreased in the hippocampal neurons after transection of the major axonal inputs from the entorhinal cortex. Although fyn expression in the brain has been allegedly limited to neurons and oligodendrocytes, we provide in this study the first evidence that fyn mRNA is highly expressed in the astrocytes involved in reactive gliosis. In the KA model, the occurrence of fyn-overexpressing astrocytes increased with the progress of neuronal damage in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus. In contrast, fyn-overexpressing astrocytes were not observed in the granular cell layer of dentate gyrus (DG), where neurons were not damaged. Likewise, in the ECL model, the most drastic change in fyn mRNA expression took place at the reactive astrocytes near the stab wound sites, where fyn mRNA levels were doubled 4-10 d after the lesion. Collectively, our data suggest that (i) an early induction of fyn mRNA in neurons is linked to neuronal activity, and (ii) the delayed induction of fyn mRNA in reactive astrocytes near the damaged cells may play novel signaling roles during glial response.

Animals↗

[Comparative ontogeny of the human and monkey hippocampus, hypothalamus, entorhinal and limbic cortex].

Studies of the ontogenesis of the limbic and entorhinal cortex, the hippocamp and the hypothalamus in man and monkeys in the pre- and postnatal periods revealed substantial differences in their development. The architectonic structures of the monkey brain develop in the prenatal period, and by the time of the birth they have already been formed to a greater degree than the analogous structures in the human newborn. A substantial difference of the ontogenesis of the above cortical structures in man consists in development of limitrophe structures and appearance of new structural units. A specific feature of the development of the limbic and entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus of the human brain, as compared with that in rhesus macacas, is a longer duration of their postnatal ontogenesis. The main development of the cortical structures of the human brain proceeds after the birth.

Animals↗

Visual-discrimination learning ability and beta-amyloid accumulation in the dog.

Young, middle-aged, and old beagle dogs were tested on several visual-discrimination tasks: reward- and object-approach learning, object discrimination and reversal, long-term retention of a reversal problem, and a size-discrimination task. Beta-amyloid accumulation in the entorhinal, prefrontal, parietal, and occipital cortices was quantified using immunohistochemical and imaging techniques at the conclusion of cognitive testing. Middle-aged and old dogs were impaired in size-discrimination learning. In each task, a subset of aged dogs was impaired relative to age-matched peers. Beta-amyloid accumulation was age-dependent. However, not all middle-aged and old dogs showed beta-amyloid accumulation in the entorhinal cortex. The error scores from dogs tested with a nonpreferred object during visual discrimination learning and from reversal learning were correlated with beta-amyloid in the prefrontal but not entorhinal cortex. Size-discrimination and reward and object-approach learning error scores were correlated with beta-amyloid accumulation in the entorhinal but not prefrontal cortex. The results of these studies support an association between cognitive test and the location and extent of beta-amyloid pathology.

Amyloid beta-Peptides↗

Activation of the amygdalo-entorhinal pathway in fear-conditioning in rat.

Several studies implicate a role for the amygdala in processing of emotional memories that might partially occur in the connections between the amygdala and the hippocampal-parahippocampal areas. The present study was designed to determine if the pathway from the amygdala to the entorhinal cortex becomes activated during acquisition of fear-conditioning. First, the retrograde tracer Fluoro-Gold (FG) was iontophoresed into the entorhinal cortex in rats. Following habituation, animals were divided into five groups: (i) controls that received another habituation session; (ii) animals given a tone only; (iii) animals given a footshock only; (iv) animals given an unpaired presentation of a shock and a tone; and (v) conditioned animals that received a single tone-footshock pairing. Then double-immunohistochemistry against c-Fos and FG or glutamate decarboxylase (GAD67) was performed. The numbers and densities of labelled neurons were calculated in the lateral and basal nuclei of the amygdala. In conditioned animals the number and density of c-Fos-positive nuclei increased in dorsolateral and medial divisions of the lateral nucleus compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Additionally, in the medial division of the lateral nucleus, the percentage of c-Fos/FG double-labelled neurons was higher in the conditioned animals compared with the other groups (P < 0.05). Only a very few GAD67-positive interneurons expressed c-Fos. These data indicate that a part of the amygdalo-entorhinal pathway is activated during acquisition of fear-conditioning. These data support the idea that emotionally relevant sensory information in the lateral nucleus can influence information processing in the hippocampal and parahippocampal areas via the amygdalo-entorhinal pathway.

Amygdala↗

Differential involvement of cortical receptor mechanisms in working, short-term and long-term memory.

Rats received, through bilaterally implanted indwelling cannulae, 0.5 microliter infusions of 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline2,3-dione (CNQX) (0.5 microgram), D-2-amino-5-phophono pentanoic acid (AP5) (5.0 micrograms), muscimol (0.5 microgram), scopolamine (2.0 micrograms), SCH23390 (2.5 micrograms), saline or a vehicle into the CA1 region of the hippocampus, or into the antero-lateral prefrontal (PRE), posterior parietal (PP) and entorhinal cortex (EC). The infusions were given 6 min prior to one-trial step-down inhibitory avoidance training in order to measure their effect on working memory (WM), or immediately post-training in order to measure their effect on short-term (STM) and long-term memory (LTM), 1.5 and 24 h later, respectively. WM was inhibited by CNQX or muscimol given into any of the cortical areas, by SCH23390 given into CA1, PRE or PP, and by scopolamine given into PRE or EC. STM was unaffected by any of the treatments given into PRE, and was inhibited by CNQX or muscimol given into CA1, PP and EC and by scopolamine given into PP, and enhanced by SCH given into CA1. LTM was inhibited by CNQX, muscimol, scopolamine or SCH23390 given into PRE, by scopolamine given into PP, by SCH23390 given into the entorhinal cortex, and by AP5, CNQX, muscimol or scopolamine given into CA1. The results indicate a differential involvement of the various neurotransmitter systems in the three types of memory in the various brain areas, and a separation of the mechanisms and of the regions involved in each. In addition, some of the findings suggested links between WM and LTM processing in PRE, between WM and STM processing in EC and PP, and between all three types of memory in CA1.

Animals↗

Initiation of electrographic seizures by neuronal networks in entorhinal and perirhinal cortices in vitro.

The hippocampus is often considered to play a major role in the pathophysiology of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. However, emerging clinical and experimental evidence suggests that parahippocampal areas may contribute to a greater extent to limbic seizure initiation, and perhaps epileptogenesis. To date, little is known about the participation of entorhinal and perirhinal networks to epileptiform synchronization. Here, we addressed this issue by using simultaneous field potential recordings in horizontal rat brain slices containing interconnected limbic structures that included the hippocampus proper. Epileptiform discharges were disclosed by bath applying the convulsant drug 4-aminopyridine (50 microM) or by superfusing Mg(2+)-free medium. In the presence of 4-aminopyridine, slow interictal- (duration=2.34+/-0.29 s; interval of occurrence=25.75+/-2.11 s, n=16) and ictal-like (duration=31.25+/-3.34 s; interval of occurrence=196.96+/-21.56 s, n=17) discharges were recorded in entorhinal and perirhinal cortices after abating the propagation of CA3-driven interictal activity to these areas following extended hippocampal knife cuts. Simultaneous recordings obtained from the medial and lateral entorhinal cortex, and from the perirhinal cortex revealed that interictal and ictal discharges could initiate from any of these areas and propagate to the neighboring structure with delays of 8-66 ms. However, slow interictal- and ictal-like events more often originated in the medial entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex, respectively. Cutting the connections between entorhinal and perirhinal cortices (n=10), or functional inactivation of cortical areas by local application of a glutamatergic receptor antagonist (n=11) made independent epileptiform activity occur in all areas. These procedures also shortened ictal discharge duration in the entorhinal cortices, but not in the perirhinal area. Similar results could be obtained by applying Mg(2+)-free medium (n=7). These findings indicate that parahippocampal networks provide independent epileptiform synchronization sufficient to sustain limbic seizures as well as that the perirhinal cortex plays a preferential role in in vitro ictogenesis.

4-Aminopyridine↗

Enhanced propagation of epileptiform activity through the kindled dentate gyrus.

Extracellular recordings were performed in combined hippocampal-entorhinal cortex (HC-EC) slices obtained from control and commissural kindled rats to investigate the propagation of epileptiform activity from the entorhinal cortex (EC) to the hippocampus (HC) after chronic epilepsy. Lowering extracellular Mg2+ concentration in control slices induced epileptiform activity consisting of spontaneous epileptiform bursts in area CA3 and of electrographic seizures in the EC. In contrast, the CA3 region of HC-EC slices obtained from kindled rats displayed significantly longer lasting epileptiform bursts and electrographic seizures. The electrographic seizures that were absent in controls propagated from the EC because disconnecting the HC from the EC stopped their occurrence in the CA3, whereas epileptiform bursts persisted with an unaltered pattern and frequency. Thus the area CA3 is affected by kindling and contributes to the spread of epileptiform activity within the EC-HC complex. We developed a method to induce focal epileptiform activity in the EC by locally perfusing the gamma-aminobutyric acid-A (GABA) antagonist bicuculline (50 mM) in 10 mM KCl containing artificial cerebrospinal fluid. This method enabled us to investigate the propagation of epileptiform discharges from the disinhibited EC to the DG without affecting the DG with the epileptogenic medium. We show here that kindling facilitates the propagation of epileptiform activity through the DG. These data are consistent with the normal function of the DG as a filter limiting the spread of epileptiform activity within the HC-EC complex. This gating mechanism breaks down after chronic epilepsy induced by kindling.

Animals↗

Decrements in volume of anterior ventromedial temporal lobe and olfactory dysfunction in schizophrenia.

CONTEXT: Patients with schizophrenia exhibit olfactory deficits, but it is unclear whether these represent a specific abnormality. The link between olfactory impairments and regional brain abnormalities has yet to be established. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether patients with schizophrenia exhibit volumetric deficits in the anterior ventromedial temporal lobe, the target for neuronal inputs from the olfactory bulb, and whether these are related to olfactory performance deficits. DESIGN: A cohort study of patients and healthy control subjects who underwent both 1-mm spoiled-gradient echo magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral tests of olfaction and memory. SETTING: Schizophrenia Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-two patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia and 38 healthy control subjects. Individuals were excluded for history of head trauma, significant substance abuse, and medical conditions affecting brain function or olfactory capacity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Gray matter volumes of the left and right temporal poles and the perirhinal and entorhinal cortexes; olfactory threshold detection sensitivity and identification test scores; composite indexes of verbal and spatial memory ability. RESULTS: Patients had reduced volumes, relative to cranial size, in left (P =.003) and right (P =.01) perirhinal and left (P =.002) and right (P =.002) entorhinal cortexes, but not in the temporal pole. Perirhinal, but not entorhinal, cortical volume decrement was associated with decreased olfactory threshold sensitivity. Neither region was associated with impaired memory performance. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with schizophrenia have reduced cortical volumes in brain regions that receive afferents directly from the olfactory bulb. Behavioral olfactory deficits are related to structural brain abnormalities in these regions.

Adolescent↗

Contextual fear conditioning is disrupted by lesions of the subcortical, but not entorhinal, connections to the hippocampus.

Recent studies have questioned the importance of the entorhinal cortex (ERC) for normal hippocampal function. For example, fibre-sparing ERC lesions have been found to have no effect on spatial learning in the watermaze. There is also doubt as to the importance of the ERC for contextual fear conditioning, with previous studies having yielded conflicting results. In an attempt to resolve this issue, the present study compared aspiration and cytotoxic ERC lesioned rats, along with fimbria-fornix (FFX) lesioned animals and sham operated controls, on an unsignalled contextual fear conditioning paradigm. The results of the present study show that whereas lesions of the FFX disrupted contextual freezing, neither aspiration nor cytotoxic ERC lesions had any effect on this behaviour. Aspiration ERC lesioned rats, however, like FFX lesioned animals, did display hyperactivity prior to the delivery of footshock. These results suggest that whereas projections between the hippocampus and subcortical structures are important for normal levels of contextual freezing, projections from the entorhinal cortex are not essential.

Animals↗

Age-dependent effects of secreted Semaphorins 3A, 3F, and 3E on developing hippocampal axons: in vitro effects and phenotype of Semaphorin 3A (-/-) mice.

We studied the role of Semaphorins in the formation of hippocampal connections at embryonic and early postnatal stages. We show that the embryonic entorhinal cortex has a repulsive effect on embryonic hippocampal axons that disappears gradually at postnatal stages. Such chemorepulsion is blocked by Neuropilin-1 and -2 blocking antibodies. However, at perinatal stages, the inner layers of the entorhinal cortex attract CA1 axons. At these stages, Sema3A and Sema3F bind commissural and entorhinal axons. Sema3A and Sema3F repel hippocampal axons at E14-P2, but not at E13. A similar spatiotemporal pattern of chemorepulsion is observed for Sema3A on entorhinal axons, in contrast to Sema3F, which repels these axons only at postnatal ages. Sema3E also repels hippocampal axons but exclusively at E14. We show that Sema3A and Sema3F can induce the collapse of hippocampal growth cones and that membrane-bound Sema3A and Sema3F can guide hippocampal axons in the stripe assay. In sema3A (-/-) mice, the entorhinohippocampal projection is largely normal although single axons innervate aberrantly the stratum radiatum and the hilus. Thus, the chemorepulsion evoked by Sema3A, Sema3E, and Sema3F is dynamically regulated in the developing hippocampal formation.

Age Factors↗

Altered expression of microtubule-associated protein 1B in cerebral cortical structures of pentylenetetrazole-treated rats.

Using Northern blot, immunoblotting, immunocytochemistry, and in situ hybridization, we show that a single administration of the convulsant pentylenetetrazole leads to robust, long-term changes in microtubule-associated protein 1B and its mRNA, in the adult rat brain. The first increases in MAP1B mRNA were detected at 15 hr following pentylenetetrazole administration in the temporal (Te2) and perirhinal cortex followed by increases in microtubule-associated protein 1B immunoreactivity at 72 hr postseizure. In contrast, the levels of microtubule-associated protein 1B mRNA and protein in layers I-II of the retrosplenial and parietal cortex (Par2) declined visibly by 24 hr and 72 h, respectively, post-seizure. The changes included loss of staining in layers I-II and development of structures resembling "strings-of-beads" along the fibers of projection neurons of layer V. The levels of microtubule-associated protein 1B mRNA in the entorhinal cortex peaked at later times (72 h), especially in layers II-III, and returned to control levels by 10 days. Whereas the levels of microtubule-associated protein 1B immunoreactivity in the retrosplenial and parietal cortex recovered by 5-10 days, it persisted at high levels through day 35 in layer V of the temporal cortex (Te2), layers II-III of the perirhinal cortex and layers I-II of the lateral entorhinal cortex. These results indicate that seizure activity leads to long-term upregulation of genes coding for structural elements that are characteristic of the immature brain such as microtubule-associated protein 1B.

Animals↗

Consolidation of human memory over decades revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Medial temporal lobe (MTL) lesions typically produce retrograde amnesia characterized by the disproportionate loss of recently acquired memories. Temporally graded memory loss is interpreted traditionally as evidence for a consolidation process guided by the MTL. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we show temporally graded changes in MTL activity in healthy older adults taking a famous faces remote memory test. Evidence for temporally graded change in the hippocampal formation was mixed, suggesting it may participate only in consolidation processes lasting a few years. Entorhinal cortex was associated with temporally graded changes extending up to 20 years. These findings support the basic tenets of consolidation theory and suggest that the entorhinal cortex, rather than the hippocampal formation, participates in memory consolidation over decades.

Aged↗