An investigation led by the Spanish scientist Liset de la Prida, from the Cajal Neurosciences Center (CNC-CSIC) of Spain, has revealed the role of the different neurons involved in the process by which the brain builds sophisticated space maps that allow us to guide us.
“It has been like revealing which musicians of an orchestra are responsible for the rhythm and which of the melody: although everyone contributes, some have key papers in the final result,” said the main author of this work, which expands the findings of the place and rack cells in the brain made by May-Britt, Edvard Moser and Jhon O’Keefe, using the Nobel Prize in Medicine in Medicine 2014.
The study of the researchers of the Cajal, in collaboration with their colleagues from the Imperial College of London, goes further, providing a much deeper understanding of how the cerebral region of the hippocampus creates precious space maps that allow us to place ourselves in one place, guide and memorize the spaces.
Specialized neurons
The work, collected this Wednesday in the Neuron magazine, has discovered that in the mice hippocampus – with great similarity to the human – there are two types of pyramid neurons, called superficial and deep depending on their location.
Both neurons respond to different signals when we move or turn, or when changes occur in the place where we are.
Deep pyramid neurons respond to local changes, such as the position of the furniture within a room; While the superficial maintains a more stable representation of space, such as the orientation of windows and doors.
Both types of neurons work independently, which allows the brain to generate complementary maps of the environment, much more sophisticated and flexible than was thought so far.
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Visualization technique of brain activity
In their experiments, the researchers resorted to a technique called dual cell image by microendoscopy to simultaneously visualize the activity of hundreds of pyramid neurons in mice. The CSIC Cajal Neurosciences Center is the first to use it in Spain.
“We have used two sensors of different color, to be able to follow at the same time the activity of superficial and deep neurons in real time,” explains Juan Pablo Quintanilla, scientist of the CNC-CSIC responsible for these experiments.
The rodents were introduced in labyrinths with corridors that gave access to a series of visual and tactile clues in which mice could run from side to side.
Thus they could see that deep pyramid neurons were more tune in with the space, speed and direction of the movement than the superficial ones.
While deep neurons responded to the presence of brands near the subject, the activity of the superficial was more related to visual clues inside the room.
“Hippocampus neurons create abstract spatial representations that function as a map. This allows us to guide and remember the experiences lived. Until now, it was unknown how both types of neurons contributed to creating the different aspects of these maps, since these representations arise from collective activity, ”says the Prida.
Real -time updated maps
Another innovative aspect of work has been the use of topological methods, the branch of mathematics that deals with the study of bodies, which have allowed to unravel the shape of these abstract neuronal maps.
While the mice explored the halls from one side to another, the maps that the different types of neurons created in the hippocampus adopted the form of three -dimensional rings.
When the environment changed, for example, when moving or turning the furniture in a room, deep and superficial pyramid neurons react so that the brain updates its space map, and have real time information about the position and orientation.
This representational capacity of the brain can also be used to facilitate the memorization of concepts.
An example is the well -known technique of the “Palace of Memory”, a mental trick, which some students use in imagining an itinerary throughout different places of a family environment, such as the house or the neighborhood, where the concepts to be remembered are imaginary throughout that itinerary to memorize them and remember them later more easily.
The authors underline that this research, financed by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and La Caixa Foundation, opens new ways to understand how the brain information processs and represents the brain, which could open treatment pathways for neurological disorders related to memory and guidance, such as Alzheimer’s.
With EFE information.
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