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Shedding light into memories under circadian rhythm system control

L. Teodori,M. Albertini

Published 2019 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

ABSTRACT

The biological clock is the complex mechanism that regulates the cyclical repetition of many biological functions alternating between day and night. These functions are regulated by the clock genes and through the interaction with synchronizing stimuli that align the endogenous rhythm (determined biologically and genetically) with day/night alternation. In this synchronization, affected by light external stimulus, the circuits of the central nervous system play a crucial role. Neuroscientists have long been devoted to understanding how neuronal circuits function in producing behaviors as a response to external stimuli, internal state, and prior-learned experience. Other than understanding neuronal activity, a dream of neurobiologists would be to modulate the activity of distinct sets of neurons and, ultimately, the effect on behavior. In this regard, optogenetic techniques (via light-controlled defined or genetically modified proteins of neuronal circuits) offer enormous possibilities. Presently, with new-generation high-throughput techniques, a large amount of significant data can be collected to support neuroscientists in understanding the complexity of neural circuit function, bringing this science into the era of system neuroscience. In PNAS, the paper “Optogenetic reactivation of memory ensembles in the retrosplenial cortex induces systems consolidation” by de Souza et al. (1) addresses the important issue of understanding “the neural circuits underlying memory change over prolonged periods after learning, in a process known as systems consolidation. Postlearning spontaneous reactivation of memory-related neural ensembles is … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: maria.albertini{at}uniurb.it. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

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