Medial Entorhinal Cortex Excitatory Neurons Are Necessary for Accurate Timing.

ABSTRACT: The hippocampal region has long been considered critical for memory of time, and recent evidence shows that network operations and single-unit activity in the hippocampus and medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) correlate with elapsed time. However, whether MEC activity is necessary for timing remains largely unknown. Here we expressed DREADDs (designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs) under the CaMKIIa promoter to preferentially target MEC excitatory neurons for chemogenetic silencing, while freely moving male rats reproduced a memorized time interval by waiting inside a region of interest. We found that such silencing impaired the reproduction of the memorized interval and led to an overestimation of elapsed time. Trial history analyses under this condition revealed a reduced

SUBMITTER: Dias M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8638688 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature