The Role of Lateral Entorhinal Cortex Circuit in Motivated Behavior
The entorhinal cortex is an amazing brain center that encodes spatial and non-spatial information, has strong connections to the hippocampus, and receives sensory information from other areas of the cortex. In short, the entorhinal cortex is critical for memory.
A population of neurons in the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) send axonal projections to the nucleus accumbens, a brain region important in reward and aversion that becomes dysregulated in addiction and depression. However, the role of this neurocircuit is unknown. In this project we are examining the role of the LEC in memory consolidation and retrieval for motivated behaviors, such as the pursuit of rewards, e.g. food, water, sex, social interaction, and drugs of abuse like cocaine; and the avoidance of noxious/painful stimuli. We use fiber photometry and optogenetics to examine the activity of the LEC and manipulate LEC neuron function to determine how LEC modulates motivated and addictive behavior.
Chronic Cocaine Effects on Hippocampal Neuron ER Function
We have data showing that cocaine alters gene expression, physiology, and function of neurons in the ventral hippocampus. The ventral hippocampus is a brain region that is likely involved in emotional memory and contains neurons that send projections to emotion-related brain regions such as the amygdala and nucleus accumbens. We have identified that the cocaine mediates the expression of an ER chaperone protein, calreticulin, that may underlie many of the cocaine-induced changes in hippocampal neurons. We are now determining what exactly these effects might be and how they may be reversed by the manipulation of calreticulin and its partner proteins.