Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Mariana Imperatori | Email: marianaimperatori3@gmail.com
Mariana Imperatori 1°, Maria Belen Zanoni 1°, Pedro Bekinschtein 1°, Noelia Weisstaub 1°
1° Laboratorio de Memoria y Cognición Molecular, Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional, CONICET-Fundación INECO-Universidad Favaloro
Episodic memory can be defined as the memory for unique events. The serotonergic system, one of the main neuromodulatory systems in the brain, appears to play a role in it. Despite a clear involvement of hippocampus (HPC) in episodic memory, information regarding the mechanisms and neurotransmitter systems involved are not completed understood. Although the serotonergic system has been linked to HPC functionality and modulation, its role in memory processing is scarce. Recognition memory can be defined as the ability to recognize if a particular event or item was previously encountered and is thus considered, a form of episodic memory. The rodent HPC, and the dorsal CA1 (dCA1) region in particular contributes to object recognition memory. Serotonin 5-HT2a receptors (5-HT2aR) are distributed extensively in the brain, including the HPC. To analyze the role of dCA1-5-HT2aR in recognition memory we combined stereotaxic infusion of a selective antagonist with behavioral tasks in rats. We found that blockade of dCA1-5-HT2aR before the retrieval phase affects the resolution of recognition tasks that involves spatial information but it does not affect the recognition of the objects per se. These results suggest that HPC 5-HT2aR are involved in recognition memory when contextual information is an important feature of the task.