{"id":233,"date":"2024-10-19T22:17:55","date_gmt":"2024-10-19T22:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/2024\/10\/19\/optics-photonics-news-reactivating-spatial-memories-with-light\/"},"modified":"2024-10-19T22:17:55","modified_gmt":"2024-10-19T22:17:55","slug":"optics-photonics-news-reactivating-spatial-memories-with-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233","title":{"rendered":"Optics &#038; Photonics News &#8211; Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image of green and red from a light-sheet microscope of dopaminergic transmitter inputs\" src=\"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/20241010_news_image_01.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A light-sheet microscope 3D image displays the convergence of dopaminergic transmitter inputs from the ventral tegmental area (green), a midbrain structure associated with reward and motivation, and glutamatergic inputs from the ventral hippocampus (red), an area deep within the brain that helps with navigation, onto the nucleus accumbens. [Image: Kanghoon Jung]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Animals often navigate their surroundings with a specific goal in mind, such as seeking out food, water or shelter. They form spatial memories tied to these goals, that are stored in the brain and later retrieved to guide future navigation.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers in the United States have successfully reactivated a spatial memory in mice, causing the mice to attempt to shelter when no shelter is actually present (Nat. Neurosci., doi: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41593-024-01770-9\">10.1038\/s41593-024-01770-9<\/a>). They used a light-activated gene-expression technique called Cal-Light, which enabled them to switch on the expression of the genes associated with shelter memory neurons.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers believe that the work could provide a foundation for reactivating or engineering memory circuits in people with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<h3>Uncovering neural circuitry<\/h3>\n<p>Kanghoon Jung, a postdoctoral research fellow in the lab of Hyung-Bae Kwon at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, studies the neural circuitry underlying \u201cwhere-to-go\u201d decisions. The brain structure serving these goal-oriented spatial memories must receive information about the spatial context and an animal\u2019s current needs to provide the necessary navigation toward a goal. However, causal links between specific neuronal populations and goal-directed navigation are still poorly defined.<\/p>\n<p>To explore these connections, Jung and his colleagues imaged and stimulated neurons in two areas of the brain\u2014the nucleus accumbens, involved in motivation and reward, and the dorsal periaqueductal gray, associated with escape responses\u2014to explore their role in the formation of spatial memories. They employed Cal-Light, an optogenetic system developed by Kwon in 2017 that allows selective tagging and subsequent controlling over neuronal populations in a user-defined time window using light.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy illuminating the nucleus accumbens with blue light when the mouse was in the shelter, we tagged neurons associated with shelter-seeking,\u201d said Jung. \u201cLater, we reactivated these neurons, along with artificial activation of the escape brain circuit, causing mice to seek the place previously associated with the shelter, even without an active threat or the shelter present.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote\"><p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>The results suggest that a memory module in the nucleus accumbens, where spatial information and safety dopamine signals converge, is responsible for encoding spatial goal locations and facilitating goal-directed navigation.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>Role of dopamine<\/h3>\n<p>The researchers also used fiber photometry coupled with genetically encoded biosensors to reveal how dopamine signals associated with safety correlate with other neuronal activities during shelter experiences. Notably, dopamine is released into the nucleus accumbens in response to rewarding stimuli.<\/p>\n<p>The results suggest that a memory module in the nucleus accumbens, where spatial information and safety dopamine signals converge, is responsible for encoding spatial goal locations and facilitating goal-directed navigation. Also, the work reveals the role of dopamine in the formation of memory-linked neural circuits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReal-world applications could involve developing novel dopamine-mediated treatments for memory disorders like Alzheimer\u2019s disease,\u201d said Jung. \u201cThe technique of tagging specific memory-associated cells also opens possibilities to identify relevant cell types and proteins essential for memory formation, which may lead to more effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.optica-opn.org\/home\/newsroom\/2024\/october\/reactivating_spatial_memories_with_light\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A light-sheet microscope 3D image displays the convergence of dopaminergic transmitter inputs from the ventral tegmental area (green), a midbrain structure associated with reward and motivation, and glutamatergic inputs from the ventral hippocampus (red), an area deep within the brain that helps with navigation, onto the nucleus accumbens. [Image: Kanghoon Jung] Animals often navigate their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Optics &amp; Photonics News - Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light - See Beyond Shop<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Optics &amp; Photonics News - Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light - See Beyond Shop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A light-sheet microscope 3D image displays the convergence of dopaminergic transmitter inputs from the ventral tegmental area (green), a midbrain structure associated with reward and motivation, and glutamatergic inputs from the ventral hippocampus (red), an area deep within the brain that helps with navigation, onto the nucleus accumbens. [Image: Kanghoon Jung] Animals often navigate their [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"See Beyond Shop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-19T22:17:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1729376275.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/966c72e9ea404fc6a6b4a18b829c7c30\"},\"headline\":\"Optics &#038; Photonics News &#8211; Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-19T22:17:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233\"},\"wordCount\":553,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/1729376275.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233\",\"name\":\"Optics & Photonics News - Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light - See Beyond Shop\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/1729376275.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-19T22:17:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/1729376275.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/1729376275.jpeg\",\"width\":360,\"height\":270},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?p=233#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Optics &#038; Photonics News &#8211; Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/\",\"name\":\"See Beyond Shop\",\"description\":\"Where Vision Meets Innovation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"See Beyond Shop\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/Body-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/Body-1.png\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"See Beyond Shop\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/966c72e9ea404fc6a6b4a18b829c7c30\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2ecc48fc0f855681a776af453b9da92e2341a243273150dbc7938d3566454df3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2ecc48fc0f855681a776af453b9da92e2341a243273150dbc7938d3566454df3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2ecc48fc0f855681a776af453b9da92e2341a243273150dbc7938d3566454df3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/seebeyond.shop\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Optics & Photonics News - Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light - See Beyond Shop","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Optics & Photonics News - Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light - See Beyond Shop","og_description":"A light-sheet microscope 3D image displays the convergence of dopaminergic transmitter inputs from the ventral tegmental area (green), a midbrain structure associated with reward and motivation, and glutamatergic inputs from the ventral hippocampus (red), an area deep within the brain that helps with navigation, onto the nucleus accumbens. [Image: Kanghoon Jung] Animals often navigate their [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233","og_site_name":"See Beyond Shop","article_published_time":"2024-10-19T22:17:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":360,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1729376275.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#\/schema\/person\/966c72e9ea404fc6a6b4a18b829c7c30"},"headline":"Optics &#038; Photonics News &#8211; Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light","datePublished":"2024-10-19T22:17:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233"},"wordCount":553,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1729376275.jpeg","articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233","url":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233","name":"Optics & Photonics News - Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light - See Beyond Shop","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1729376275.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-10-19T22:17:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1729376275.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1729376275.jpeg","width":360,"height":270},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?p=233#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Optics &#038; Photonics News &#8211; Reactivating Spatial Memories with Light"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#website","url":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/","name":"See Beyond Shop","description":"Where Vision Meets Innovation","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#organization","name":"See Beyond Shop","url":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Body-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Body-1.png","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"See Beyond Shop"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/#\/schema\/person\/966c72e9ea404fc6a6b4a18b829c7c30","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ecc48fc0f855681a776af453b9da92e2341a243273150dbc7938d3566454df3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ecc48fc0f855681a776af453b9da92e2341a243273150dbc7938d3566454df3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ecc48fc0f855681a776af453b9da92e2341a243273150dbc7938d3566454df3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/seebeyond.shop"],"url":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seebeyond.shop\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}