Ageing of the lateral perforant path: linking circuit integrity to memory
Supervisors:
Dr Brianna Vandrey, University of Glasgow
Dr Cheryl Hawkes, Lancaster University
Dr Cassandra Sampaio-Baptista, University of Glasgow
Summary:
Episodic memory, our memory for past personal experiences, depends on communication between the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. A key pathway between these brain regions is the projection from lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) to the dentate gyrus (DG). The LEC-DG pathway is particularly vulnerable in both ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease, and its deterioration is associated with profound episodic memory loss. However, we do not yet understand when structural changes to this pathway emerge during normal ageing, how these changes affect communication between LEC and DG, or how they contribute to memory decline.
This project will investigate how the structure and function of the LEC-DG pathway change with normal ageing in mice, whose memory circuits are comparable to those of humans. The student will combine anatomical tracing, immunohistochemistry, and non-aversive memory tests to establish when changes in axons, synapses, and myelination emerge and how these relate to memory. The student will then use in-vivo electrophysiology and optogenetics to test how ageing affects the activity of neurons in LEC and DG.
The student will develop expertise in behavioural neuroscience, neural circuit tracing, immunohistochemistry, microscopy, in-vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, data analysis and advanced statistical methods. This project will equip the student with experimental and quantitative skills that are highly sought after in both academic research and industry.