"Neural Ensemble Dynamics Underlying a Long-term Associative Fear Memory"

Benjamin Grewe, Ph.D.*

Research Fellow

Stanford University

ABSTRACT
Studies of ensemble neural dynamics are essential for understanding the brain’s computational processes that underlie learning and memory. Neural ensembles of the baso-lateral amygdala a limbic brain structure for example play a key role in the learning, expression, and extinction of associative fear memories. However, how neural ensembles in the amygdala represent diverse incoming sensory stimuli and how they encode associations between stimuli remains poorly understood. Here, we used miniaturized Ca2+ imaging in freely moving mice to record and follow amygdala ensemble activity deep in the brain and provide the very first look of how learning forms a long-term associative memory at the neural ensemble scale.