Molecular and cellular mechanisms of the hippocampal memory system studied by in vivo recording in behaving animals

A major challenge in neuroscience is to explain behaviour in terms of molecular, cellular and neuronal network mechanisms. We will study mechanisms of the medial temporal lobe memory system by in vivo recording of hippocampal single unit and neuronal netw ork activity (EEG) in freely mowing rats and mice. By combining in vivo electrophysiology and behavioural studies with pharmacology (selective ion channel blockers) and genetic manipulations (transgenic mice, rats injected with lentiviral vectors) we will bridge the gap between the molecular-cellular and network-behavioural levels of investigation. In this project we will focus on (1) the M/Kv7 and SK type potassium channels in hippocampal neuronal activity and memory, (2) the function of back-propagating action potentials during normal behaviour, and (3) an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. In additon, it is a strategic goal to establish unit recording from behaving animals at the Univeristy of Oslo, where this method is currently not available to neu roscience groups, including the Centre for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience. It is also a strategic goal to establish in vivo unit recording from freely moving mice, which has previously not been performed in Norway, but wil open a wealth of possibiliti es for studying strains of transgenic mice e.g. produced by the Norwegian Transgenic Centre (NTC, Oslo) and the National Centre for Stem Cell Research in Oslo.