RIKEN Brain Science Institute researchers have successfully for the first time imaged how long term memories are stored as information in the cerebral cortex using zebrafish and calcium imaging.
Calcium imaging is an imaging method where protein based indicators are monitored when they react to chemical changes in the brain. These indicators are given a fluorescent dye for easy monitoring as the indicators glow when the reaction happens.
Neurons transmit information to the brain through electrical signals. As these signals travel through the neural network, each cell within the path undergoes a shift in its internal calcium ion (Ca2+) concentration. This happens because specialized channels allow ions to flood into the cytoplasm. This shift in calcium ion concentration is a good indicator for tracking neural activity in real time.
By developing fluorescent protein-based Ca2+ indicators, scientists can track neural activity of cells being observed.
Since the human brain is big and complex with millions of neurons, scientists at Riken have used a zebrafish to monitor these neuron reactions. This development comes closely to their groundbreaking discovery of visualizing brain activity in a zebrafish. In an earlier unrelated study by MIT, their research notes that using zebrafish to study how the brain works is a useful tool (see related links).
Storing Long Term Memory in the Cerebral Cortex
In our interaction with our environment we constantly refer to past experiences stored as memories to guide behavioral decisions. But how memories are formed, stored and then retrieved to assist decision-making remains a mystery. By observing whole-brain activity in live zebrafish, researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute have visualized for the first time how information stored as long-term memory in the cerebral cortex is processed to guide behavioral choices.
The study, published today in the journal Neuron was carried out by Dr. Tazu Aoki and Dr. Hitoshi Okamoto from the Laboratory for Developmental Gene Regulation, a pioneer in the study of how the brain controls behavior in zebrafish.
The mammalian brain is too large to observe the whole neural circuit in action.
But using a technique called calcium imaging, Aoki et al. were able to visualize for the first time the activity of the whole zebrafish brain during memory retrieval.
Calcium imaging takes advantage of the fact that calcium ions enter neurons upon neural activation. By introducing a calcium sensitive fluorescent substance in the neural tissue, it becomes possible to trace the calcium influx in neurons and thus visualize neural activity.
Video: Visualizing Brain Activity of A Fish
The researchers trained transgenic zebrafish expressing a calcium sensitive protein to avoid a mild electric shock using a red LED as cue. By observing the zebrafish brain activity upon presentation of the red LED they were could visualize the process of remembering the learned avoidance behavior.
They observe spot-like neural activity in the dorsal part of the fish telencephalon, which corresponds to the human cortex, upon presentation of the red LED 24 hours after the training session. No activity is observed when the cue is presented 30 minutes after training.
In another experiment, Aoki et al. show that if this region of the brain is removed, the fish are able to learn the avoidance behavior, remember it short-term, but cannot form any long-term memory of it.
"This indicates that short-term and long-term memories are formed and stored in different parts of the brain. We think that short-term memories must be transferred to the cortical region to be consolidated into long-term memories," explains Dr. Aoki.
The team then tested whether memories for the best behavioral choices can be modified by new learning. The fish were trained to learn two opposite avoidance behaviors, each associated with a different LED color, blue or red, as cue. They find that presentation of the different cues leads to the activation of different groups of neurons in the telencephalon, which indicates that different behavioral programs are stored and retrieved by different populations of neurons.
"Using calcium imaging on zebrafish we were able to visualize an on-going process of memory consolidation, for the first time. This approach opens new avenues for research into memory using zebrafish as model organism," concludes Dr. Okamoto.
Calcium imaging is an imaging method where protein based indicators are monitored when they react to chemical changes in the brain. These indicators are given a fluorescent dye for easy monitoring as the indicators glow when the reaction happens.
Neurons transmit information to the brain through electrical signals. As these signals travel through the neural network, each cell within the path undergoes a shift in its internal calcium ion (Ca2+) concentration. This happens because specialized channels allow ions to flood into the cytoplasm. This shift in calcium ion concentration is a good indicator for tracking neural activity in real time.
By developing fluorescent protein-based Ca2+ indicators, scientists can track neural activity of cells being observed.
Since the human brain is big and complex with millions of neurons, scientists at Riken have used a zebrafish to monitor these neuron reactions. This development comes closely to their groundbreaking discovery of visualizing brain activity in a zebrafish. In an earlier unrelated study by MIT, their research notes that using zebrafish to study how the brain works is a useful tool (see related links).
Storing Long Term Memory in the Cerebral Cortex
In our interaction with our environment we constantly refer to past experiences stored as memories to guide behavioral decisions. But how memories are formed, stored and then retrieved to assist decision-making remains a mystery. By observing whole-brain activity in live zebrafish, researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute have visualized for the first time how information stored as long-term memory in the cerebral cortex is processed to guide behavioral choices.
The study, published today in the journal Neuron was carried out by Dr. Tazu Aoki and Dr. Hitoshi Okamoto from the Laboratory for Developmental Gene Regulation, a pioneer in the study of how the brain controls behavior in zebrafish.
The mammalian brain is too large to observe the whole neural circuit in action.
But using a technique called calcium imaging, Aoki et al. were able to visualize for the first time the activity of the whole zebrafish brain during memory retrieval.
Calcium imaging takes advantage of the fact that calcium ions enter neurons upon neural activation. By introducing a calcium sensitive fluorescent substance in the neural tissue, it becomes possible to trace the calcium influx in neurons and thus visualize neural activity.
Video: Visualizing Brain Activity of A Fish
The researchers trained transgenic zebrafish expressing a calcium sensitive protein to avoid a mild electric shock using a red LED as cue. By observing the zebrafish brain activity upon presentation of the red LED they were could visualize the process of remembering the learned avoidance behavior.
They observe spot-like neural activity in the dorsal part of the fish telencephalon, which corresponds to the human cortex, upon presentation of the red LED 24 hours after the training session. No activity is observed when the cue is presented 30 minutes after training.
In another experiment, Aoki et al. show that if this region of the brain is removed, the fish are able to learn the avoidance behavior, remember it short-term, but cannot form any long-term memory of it.
"This indicates that short-term and long-term memories are formed and stored in different parts of the brain. We think that short-term memories must be transferred to the cortical region to be consolidated into long-term memories," explains Dr. Aoki.
The team then tested whether memories for the best behavioral choices can be modified by new learning. The fish were trained to learn two opposite avoidance behaviors, each associated with a different LED color, blue or red, as cue. They find that presentation of the different cues leads to the activation of different groups of neurons in the telencephalon, which indicates that different behavioral programs are stored and retrieved by different populations of neurons.
"Using calcium imaging on zebrafish we were able to visualize an on-going process of memory consolidation, for the first time. This approach opens new avenues for research into memory using zebrafish as model organism," concludes Dr. Okamoto.
RELATED LINKS
RIKEN
RIKEN Brain Science Institute
Neuron
Visualizing Zebrafish Brain Activity - How Fish Think
Clenching Fists Can Help Form Stronger Memories and Also In Recollecting Them
How Nerve Cell Activity Between Neurons is Regulated Within the Brain's Hippocampus
Continuous Sleep Favorable In Long Term Memory Consolidation and Enhancement
MIT News: Studying The Zebrafish To Understand Autism And Other Human Brain Disorders
Virtual Nanoscopy Enables Large Scale Composite Images
MIT News: Astrocyte Brain Cells Plays Key Role In Processing Sensory Information
Stem Cells Transformed Into Brain Neurons For the First Time
Using fMRI To Examine Brain Activity In Forgetting Memories Through Suppression And Substitution
Lack of Omega 3 Fatty Acids May Cause Brain to Age Faster and Inhibit Memory and Thinking Functions
