Symposia

Below are the symposia that will be featured at the conference. More detailed information about the program will be available in the coming months.

Wednesday April 18, 2018 (10:30 AM - 12:30 PM)

103.1 Manipulating Sleep to Bias Memory Consolidation

Chairs: Sara Mednick, Ken Paller

Studies of offline consolidation during sleep are providing novel insights into the dynamics of memory storage for multiple types of memory. Electrophysiological features, such as slow oscillations and sleep spindles, have been linked with memory change and can be experimentally modified. Approaches for doing so include 1) pharmacological manipulations, 2) closed-loop electrical or auditory stimulation, and 3) targeted memory reactivation via sensory stimulation in association with learning and during sleep. Enhancement of memory storage has been observed in conjunction with enhancement of electrophysiological signals. The future elucidation of these signals holds promise for producing new insights into neural mechanisms of consolidation.
Sara Mednick

UC Riverside
USA

Ken Paller

Northwestern University
USA

Penelope Lewis

University of Cardiff
United Kingdom

Susanne Diekelmann

University of Tuebingen
Germany

103.2 Role of adult-born hippocampal neurons in learning and memory

Chair: Nora Abrous

The discovery of a continuous renewal of neurons in the adult mammalian brain has been a long process. After two decades of extensive research, the existence of adult neurogenesis (ANg) in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is definitely proven. Accumulating evidence indicates that there is a bidirectional relationship between memory and ANg: how and to which extent learning modifies new neurons connectivity, when new neurons contribute to memory and to which memory processes, how alterations of ANg by early life stress determine age-related memory decline, are extensively debated questions. This symposium will concentrate on the role of ANg in the physiology and physiopathology of memory by bringing together recent advances in this field.

Nora Abrous

French National Institute Health and Medical Research
France

Muriel Koehl

French National Institute of Health and Medical Research
France

Luisa Pinto

Life and Health Sciences Research Institute
Portugal

Matthew Shtrahman

University of California, San Diego

USA

103.3 Modulating memory traces in healthy and maladaptive states

Chair: Steve Ramirez

Recent advances in optogenetic, transgenic, and virus engineering strategies have yielded unprecedented insight into the neural basis of memory. Our speakers will present unpublished data focused on activity-dependent modulation of defined sets of cells throughout the hippocampus, amygdala, and cortical areas, which collectively causally contribute to the behavioral expression of positive and negative memories. We will discuss novel acute and chronic stimulation strategies to permanently modulate depression, stress, and Alzheimer's-related phenotypes, while also surveying the brain-wide consequences of such interventions.
Steve Ramirez

Harvard University
USA

Asim Rashid

University of Toronto
Canada

Christine Ann Denny

Columbia University
USA

Brian Wiltgen

UC Davis
USA

103.4 Nucleus reuniens of the thalamus:  Behavioral relevance and physiology at the nexus of a hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex memory circuit

Chair: Timothy Allen

This session will focus on current behavioral and physiological evidence for the role of the nucleus reuniens of the thalamus (RE) in memory. Anatomically, RE receives distributed inputs but projections are relatively restricted to hippocampus (HC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Recent behavioral evidence found that RE is critical to contextual fear memory, goal-directed navigation, spatial working memory, and behavioral flexibility. Neural recordings show trajectory-dependent coding in CA1 depends on RE, memory-related HC-PFC synchrony is reduced by RE inactivations, RE neurons represent space, and RE neurons are theta-cycle skipping. The available data will be integrated into up-to-date mechanistic models of RE in memory.
Timothy Allen

Florida International University
USA

Robert Vertes

Florida Atlantic University
USA

Amy Griffin

University of Delaware
USA

Hiroshi Ito

Max Planck Institute for Brain Research
Germany

103.5 Pattern Separation across the Lifespan

Chair: Nora Newcombe

Remembering a specific past event – or episodic memory - crucially relies on the ability to store memories for similar events as distinct from one another. In order to minimize potential interference among similar memories, a neural computation called pattern separation transforms overlapping inputs into non-overlapping representations. Although it is well established that episodic memory changes greatly across the lifespan, little is known about the developmental profile of pattern separation from early childhood to normal aging. Collectively, the work presented in this symposium will characterize the development of pattern separation from early childhood to normal aging, with a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging approaches.
Tracy Riggins

University of Maryland
College Park
USA

Leslie Rollins

Christopher Newport University
USA

Kelsey Canada

University of Maryland,
College Park
USA

Zoe Ngo

Temple University
USA

Wednesday April 18, 2018 (2:30 PM - 4:30 PM)

105.1 Representations of space and experience in the hippocampal/entorhinal circuit

Chair: Jill Leutgeb

Spatial navigation and the formation of autobiographical memories are essential cognitive functions, which are supported by the brain circuits that include the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus. This session will highlight recent advances in our understanding of how distinct types of information critical for spatial memory is processed by local hippocampal/entorhinal circuits in support of spatial navigation and memory guided decision making.
Mayank Mehta

UC Los Angeles
USA

Lisa Giocomo

Stanford University
USA

David Foster

UC Berkeley
USA

Stefan Leutgeb

UC San Diego
USA

105.2 Learning representations of event and reward structures

Chair: Ida Momennejad

Humans extract event structure from dynamically unfolding streams of experience. As we observe and act in the world, recurring relationships among events and associations with rewards are integrated into schemas and event models. How do human brains segment ongoing experience into events and build representations of task hierarchies and event structures? How do retrieved schemas facilitate learning and decision-making in dynamic environments? How does the environment’s volatility affect structure encoding and retrieval? We bring together computational, neuroimaging, and developmental perspectives that use controlled and naturalistic paradigms to tackle these questions and open up multidisciplinary directions of future research.
Ida Momennejad

Princeton University
USA

Lila Davachi

New York University
USA

Dare Baldwin

University of Oregon
USA

Christopher Baldassano

Princeton University
USA

105.3 Mechanisms of extinction for drug seeking and fear-based memories

Chair: Ryan LaLumiere

This symposium will discuss recent work on the extinction and inhibition of drug seeking and fear-based memories, including both neurobiological findings and potential therapeutic implications. Over the past two decades, studies on these issues have found significant commonalities in the mechanisms underlying both types of extinction (e.g., importance of noradrenergic systems in the medial prefrontal cortex) that have helped to inform and drive additional research in each area.
Ryan LaLumiere

University of Iowa
USA

Gavan McNally

University of New South Wales
Australia

Matt Lattal

Oregon Health Sciences University
USA

Christa McIntyre

University of Texas Dallas
USA

105.4 Human intracranial recordings and stimulation for probing episodic memory circuits

Chair: Bryan Strange

Intracranial electrodes in human patients provide a powerful tool for studying the functional dynamics of brain structures implicated in episodic memory (EM). In addition to the unique spatiotemporal resolution furnished by neurophysiological recording from these electrodes, stimulating target brain structures enables the probing of memory consequences of focal neural modulation. This symposium will present novel oscillatory and single unit data on the representation of specific EM contents. This will be complemented by new insights into the precise parameters required for entorhinal stimulation to yield memory enhancement. Lastly, stimulation of the human mesolimbic dopamine system will be presented as an alternative route for enhancing EM.
Bryan Strange

Universidad Politecnica de Madrid
Spain

Nikolai Axmacher

Ruhr University
Germany

Kareem Zaghloul

National Institutes of Health
USA

Emily Mankin

UC Los Angeles
USA

105.5 Neural paths for the hippocampal memory system to influence behavior 

Chair: Miriam Meister

Although there is consensus that the hippocampal memory system influences behavior, the mechanisms allowing this to occur are almost entirely unknown. Resolving this unknown by starting to track the functional output of this system not only promises enhanced understanding of the neural basis of how memory adaptively alters behavior, but also raises the possibility of revealing a new array of clinical targets for preserving memory-informed behavior in disease. This symposium invites researchers with work bearing on this issue to share their findings from rodents, non-human primates, and humans.
Miriam Meister

University of Washington
USA

Shantanu Jadhav

Brandeis University
USA

Jennifer Ryan

Rotman Research Institute
Canada

Sheri Mizumori

University of Washington
USA

Thursday April 19, 2018 (10:30 AM - 12:30 PM)

203.1 The other EC: New findings about neural representations in the lateral entorhinal cortex

Chair: James Knierim

The lateral entorhinal cortex is thought to provide nonspatial (“what”) information to the hippocampus in support of episodic memory. However, compared to MEC, much less is known about the correlates of LEC neural activity. Two of the talks in this symposium focus on LEC representations as animals freely explore environments, showing evidence of egocentric bearing and time selectivity. The other two talks focus on trace eyeblink conditioning, showing context-specific stimulus encoding and delay interval activity. Given the paucity of knowledge about the functional properties of approximately half of the cortical input to the hippocampus, this symposium will provide an update to the field on new, exciting findings on the “other” EC.
James Knierim

Johns Hopkins University
USA

Albert Tsao

Stanford University
USA

Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi

University of Toronto
Canada

John Disterhoft

Northwestern University
USA

203.2 A sound model for cortical contributions to information in memory

Chair: Kasia Bieszczad

Sensory cortices are now known to be plastic with learning or after significant experiences. In auditory cortex, representation of the acoustic world is in receptive fields that appear to be tuned to the acoustic features of sound (like frequency or loudness) that encode its presence in a current experience. However, we also know that cortical auditory tuning is for beyond the simple features of sound. The speakers will reveal an emerging understanding of rules that dictate how cortical neurons respond in an auditory model to answer: What is the sensory cortex really “tuned into”? We will discuss how cortex becomes plastic by molecular signals, activated genes, and changing circuits that ultimately alter what is recollected from experience.
Kasia Bieszczad

Rutgers University
USA

Robert Liu

Emory University
USA

Max Happel

Leibnitz Institute for Neurobiology
Germany

Simon Rumpel

Johannes Gutenberg University
Germany

203.3 Human hippocampal activity in a constraining temporal context: detecting deviance or representing expected events? 

Chair: Anna Jafarpour

People expect and respond quickly to an event when a chain of proceedings constrains the upcoming event – i.e. a constraining temporal context. In this symposium, N.T. provides evidence for decoding mnemonically expected stimuli from the human hippocampus (fMRI). LT.H. demonstrates that the hippocampus represents events given a context (fMRI). A.J. shows that the hippocampal pre-activation of expected stimuli predicts behavior, and that the hippocampal activity tracks saliency of events (iEEG). Finally, A.T. shows that violating expectation modulates hippocampal activity (iEEG). Together, we discuss the idea that the human hippocampus is a part of neural network to represent expected events and detect events that breach that expectation.
Anna Jafarpour

University of Washington
USA

Nicholas Turk-Browne

Yale University
USA

Liang-Tien (Frank) Hsieh

UC Berkeley
USA

Athina Tzovara

University of Zurich
Switzerland

203.4 Novel role of the endocannabinoid system in stress-induced neuronal function and memory

Chair: Benno Roozendaal

Neuroscience research has shed light on the impact of stress and emotion on the brain. Recent discoveries indicate that the endocannabinoid system is playing a paramount role in governing the effects of stress and stress hormones on neuronal adaptation and plasticity underlying different physiological and behavioral functions, including learning and memory. Endocannabinoids further modulate susceptibility to stress-related psychiatric disorders, and novel drug development selectively targeting the endocannabinoid system is emerging as a promising therapeutic intervention. This symposium will provide an overview of the intriguing role of the endocannabinoid system in stress-induced changes in neuronal function and learning and memory.

Benno Roozendaal

Radboud University
The Netherlands

Patrizia Campolongo

Sapienza University
Italy

Jeffrey Tasker

Tulane University
USA

Sachin Patel

Vanderbilt University
USA

203.5 Subtle Learning and Memory Impairments in Early Prodromal Alzheimer's Disease: Behavioral Biomarkers for Future Risk

Chair: Mark Gluck

Subtle changes in learning and memory which may not otherwise be detected by traditional standardized tests of delayed recall of declarative memory, may be useful as novel behavioral biomarkers for future risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The speakers in this symposium will review some of these tasks, and discuss current evidence for their relationship to know biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and risk for Alzheimer’s disease, in people who may be at the earliest stage of prodromal AD.
Mark Gluck

Rutgers University
USA

Karen Rodrigue

University of Texas Dallas
USA

Morgan Barense

University of Toronto
Canada

Zach Reagh

UC Davis
USA

Friday April 20, 2018 (10:30 AM - 12:30 PM)

303.1 Neuronal oscillations for memory in health and disease

Chair: Kei Igarashi

Neural oscillations observed in local field potentials (LFP) represent gross cellular activity near the recording electrode. Coupling of oscillations in distributed brain circuits has been proposed to enhance communication across the circuits , and the plasticity in oscillatory coupling can underlie flexible task learning. Recently, evidence for plasticity in oscillatory coupling in theta, beta and gamma bands has been obtained in memory circuits consisted of the hippocampus and its connected areas, suggesting importance of oscillatory coupling plasticity in memory processing. We will present our recent results from animal models to human, and discuss future direction for research in neuronal oscillations.
Kei Igarashi

UC Irvine
USA

Alexandra Mably

University of Texas Austin
USA

Peyman Golshani

UC Los Angeles
USA

Ueli Rutishauser

Ceders-Sinai Medical Center
USA

 

303.2 Reflective v. Reflexive Memory System Function in Behavioral Control

Chair: Pamela Kennedy

Goal-directed and habitual behaviors are mediated by distinct brain circuits involving hippocampal/dorsomedial striatal and dorsolateral striatal memory systems, respectively. Transitions from goal-directed to habitual control of behavior can be adaptive, however, dysregulation in the balance between these systems is associated with myriad neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. The neural mechanisms underlying shifts in behavioral control from goal-directed to habit memory systems remain poorly understood. In this symposium we will discuss evidence highlighting functional distinctions between these systems in memory processing and present mechanistic data that may support transitions in their control over behavioral selection.
Pamela Kennedy

UC Los Angeles
USA

Mark Packard

Texas A&M University
USA

Kate Wassum

UC Los Angeles
USA

Kyle Smith

Dartmouth College
USA

303.3 Construction and disruption of spatial-memory networks during development

Chair: Tallie Z. Baram

Spatial memory networks encompass precisely-interacting cell populations within the hippocampal formation and cortical regions. The development of these circuits involves activity-and sensory signal- dependent and independent components and is incompletely understood. Orchestrated development of these networks is crucial for memory function throughout life; conversely, disruptions of memory network development arise at molecular, cellular and circuit levels with major, clinically-relevant cognitive deficits. This session will describe human and animal model functional memory network development and address--across species--how studying disruption of this development can inform disease mechanisms as well fundamental principles of memory.
Tallie Z. Baram

UC Irvine
USA

Gregory Holmes

University of Vermont
USA

Francesca Cacucci

University College London
England

Flavio Donato

Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience
Norway

303.4 Sleep and the (re)processing of memory

Chair: Francesco Battaglia, Lisa Genzel

During sleep, memories are replayed, consolidated and transformed. Spontaneous brain activity during sleep supports this process, favoring local reprocessing in each involved brain area, the communication between different brain areas, and ultimately reshaping the connectivity matrix supporting the memory. Maksim Bazhenov will propose a theory of how slow oscillations during NREM may support synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation. Then Francesco Battaglia will look at how long-range hippocampo-cortical communication are supported by sleep dynamics, and Lisa Genzel will show how memory replay may help generating abstract memory representations. Last, Guang Yang will demonstrate how sleep can reshape dendritic spines and synapses.
Francesco Battaglia

Radboud University, Nijmegan
The Netherlands

Lisa Genzel

Radboud University, Nijmegan
The Netherlands

Guang Yang

New York University
USA

Maksim Bazhenov

UC San Diego
USA

303.5 Hippocampal-dependent memory influences energy and body weight regulation

Chair: Terry Davidson

The hippocampus has recently been identified as a critical brain substrate for the inhibitory control of feeding behavior and hippocampal neurons are particularly vulnerable to pathology associated with obesity and intake of obesogenic diets. This symposium will discuss (a) cellular and behavioral processes through which hippocampal-dependent episodic memory influences feeding; (b) endocrine and neuropeptide systems that act in the hippocampus to regulate learned aspects of feeding; (c) how obesogenic dietary factors impair the hippocampal-dependent learned control of food intake; (d) data highlighting a negative relationship between obesity and diet and hippocampal-dependent memory in human children.
Terry Davidson

American University
USA

Marise Parent

Georgia State University
USA

Scott Kanoski

University of Southern California
USA

Naiman Khan

University of Illinois
USA

Friday April 20, 2018 (2:30 PM - 4:30 PM)

305.1 Cross-species investigations of the theta rhythm

Chairs: Elizabeth Buffalo, Laura Colgin

The theta rhythm is thought to play a critical role in episodic memory and has been extensively studied in the hippocampus of freely moving rats. Recent studies have advanced our understanding of the function of the theta rhythm and its role in coordinating network communication. The speakers in this symposium will describe new findings regarding the hippocampal theta rhythm in rodents, monkeys, and humans. Matthew Shapiro will discuss how coherent theta phase coordinates PFC-CA1 interactions, Laura Colgin will discuss interactions between theta and gamma rhythms in rat hippocampus, Beth Buffalo will discuss theta oscillations in the monkey hippocampus, and Nanthia Suthana will discuss theta oscillations in freely moving epilepsy patients.
Elizabeth Buffalo

University of Washington
USA

Laura Colgin

University of Texas, Austin
USA

Nanthia Suthana

UC Los Angeles
USA

Matthew Shapiro

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
USA

305.2 The dynamic interplay between detailed remembering and forgetting

Chair: Signy Sheldon

It is recognized that memories change over time. Current research has focused on the mechanisms and functions of maintaining detailed memory representations, leaving open questions about the purpose of forgetting details from past events. Here, we will discuss how and when details are best remembered or forgotten. We will present human and animal research to compare the neural mechanisms that support remembering versus forgetting and the circumstances that benefit from reactivating detailed versus schematic memory representations. In bringing together research using different methods, we can enrich the understanding of remembering and forgetting processes and the circumstances in which each is adaptable in complex environments.
Signy Sheldon

McGill University
Canada

Brian Levine

University of Toronto
Canada

Paul Frankland

University of Toronto
Canada

Melanie Sekeres

Baylor University
USA

305.3 Memory malleability allows memory modifications: Facts, processes and consequences

Chair: Pascale Gisquet-Verrier

Numerous evidence indicates that memory’s strength and content can be modified when active, i.e immediately after acquisition or reactivation. These changes are essential for updating memories, but seem to account better for various cases of memory failure or misremembering than loss or alteration of stored representations. In this symposium we will review various instances of memory changes induced by new information presented while memories are in an active state, and leading to: interference, extinction, false memory, performance impairment or facilitation. We will investigate the boundary conditions of memory changes, their consequences on memory processing, and on the development of new therapeutic approaches for pathologic memories.
Pascale Gisquet-Verrier

Paris-Saclay Neuroscience Institute
France

Almut Hupbach

Lehigh University
USA

Marie Monfils

University of Texas at Austin
USA

Sunjeev Kamboj

University College London
England

305.4 Spatial navigation - a unique window into mechanisms of aging and dementia

Chair: Thomas Wolbers

Key structures of the brain’s navigation circuit are particularly sensitive to age-related neurodegenerative changes, hence spatial navigation can provide a unique window to understand mechanisms of age- and dementia related cognitive decline. This symposium will bridge the gap between rodents (Bizon, Hussaini) and humans (Hornberger, Wolbers) and discuss how specific spatial computations are altered in the aging brain. Moreover, we will discuss how tau pathology affects medial temporal lobe functioning, and we will present data from the first epidemiological ageing navigation study. Given its highly interdisciplinary scope, this symposium will be appealing to a wide audience interested in spatial memory, aging and dementia.
Thomas Wolbers

German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease
Germany

Jennifer Bizon

University of Florida
USA

Michael Hornberger

University of East Anglia
England

Abid Hussaini

Columbia University
USA

305.5 Using Noninvasive Brain Stimulation to Modulate Learning in Humans

Chair: Jacky Au

Noninvasive brain stimulation refers to a collection of methods to deliver a weak electrical current through the scalp and into the brain. Evidence shows that this current can influence the endogenous activity of the brain, resulting in long-lasting behavioral effects. One particularly exciting application of this method in humans has been to modulate learning and skill acquisition by stimulating during or around a learning event. However, certain conditions, which are not yet fully understood, must be met in order to successfully evince these effects. In the proposed symposium, four prominent researchers from the field will discuss their work seeking to enhance human performance by applying brain stimulation during cognitive training.
Jacky Au

UC Irvine
USA

Vincent Clark

University of
New Mexico
USA

Marian Berryhill

University of Nevada
USA

Adam Woods

University of Florida
USA

Saturday April 21, 2018 (2:30 PM - 4:30 PM)

405.1 New perspectives on episodic memory decline - from aging to neurodegeneration

Chair: Rosanna Olsen

This symposium aims to highlight how deterioration of distributed brain networks in healthy and pathological aging impacts episodic memory integrity. Nyberg will begin by exploring hippocampal contributions to pattern separation and pattern completion in healthy aging. Addis will describe age-related alterations in large-scale brain networks during the retrieval of autographical memories. Olsen will then discuss eye-tracking and brain measures of early cognitive decline in undiagnosed older adults. Turning our attention to neuodegenerative disorders, Ramanan will examine lateral parietal lobe contributions to episodic memory in typical and atypical variants of Alzheimer’s disease.
Note: This symposium was organized by Muireann Irish who planned to attend the conference but will unfortunately be unable to join. Donna Rose Addis has stepped in to replace her.
Rosanna Olsen

Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest
Canada

Lars Nyberg

Umea University
Sweden

Siddharth Ramanan

University of Sydney
Australia

Donna Rose Addis

University of Auckland

New Zealand

405.2 Functional interactions of the parietal and retrosplenial cortices, subiculum and hippocampus for spatial mapping and cognition

Chair: Douglas Nitz

The retrosplenial cortex and subiculum are under-investigated structures anatomically positioned to mediate interactions between hippocampal and neocortical systems. Both are critical for multiple forms of spatial cognition, attention, learning, and memory. Recent studies have revealed previously unknown connectivity patterns among these structures and have examined their functional implications. Neurophysiological work has identified new forms of spatial information encoding. The symposium will examine detailed features of retrosplenial cortex and subiculum connectivity and key features of retrosplenial cortex and subicular dynamics in humans and rodents. The goal is to develop new concepts to guide future work on these important regions.
Douglas Nitz

UC San Diego
USA

Xiangmin Xu

UC Irvine
USA

Menno Witter

Norwegian University of Science an Technology
Norway

Liz Chrastil

UC Santa Barbara
USA

405.3 Development of episodic memory function

Chair: George Dragoi

Of the multiple memory systems operating in the brain, episodic memory is a recently evolved, later developing and early deteriorating cognitive function. Over 60 years of research have been devoted to understanding the neuronal correlates of episodic memory in adulthood, but substantially less effort has been directed toward understanding its early-life development. Cognitive development occurs in stages marked by periods of rapid brain maturation, one of which offsets infantile amnesia and marks the ability to form associative, episodic memories lasting into adulthood. This symposium brings together researchers whose aim is to reveal the neuronal mechanisms underlying the development of episodic-like memory function in humans and rodents.
George Dragoi

Yale University
USA

Simona Ghetti

UC Davis
USA

Axel Guskjolen

University of Toronto
Canada

Cristina Alberini

New York University
USA

405.4 Hippocampal memory in atypical development and atypical models

Chair: Katharine Hughes

A vital component in understanding the healthy development and function of human memory, is the study of atypical systems. Syndromes such as Down syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome, with genetic origins, present with uneven cognitive profiles of unpredictable severity. Memory is one of the key cognitive features affected in these syndromes. However, the profile of ability varies both across populations and life span. This symposium aims to introduce the importance of developmental approaches to understanding cognition, and present results from both human and mouse models illustrating the rich information that atypical populations can provide in understanding memory, the hippocampal role in memory, and the change across time.
Katharine Hughes

University of Arizona
USA

Jamie Edgin

University of Arizona
USA

Christine Gall

UC Irvine
USA

Frances Wiseman

University College London
England

405.5 The Dark Side of Memory: Pathological Persistence and Insensitivity to Consequences in Addiction

Chairs: Marcelo Wood

Learning & memory play fundamental roles in drug addiction, and here we provide several perspectives on this topic. Wood will moderate. See will contextualize the history and theory behind rodent drug self-administration/relapse models, highlighting roles for oxytocin in these processes. Suto will discuss PFC engrams that promote or suppress drug seeking, using new tools for activity-defined gene expression and neurochemical profiling. Contet will discuss parasubthalamic nucleus as a node of the neuronal network activated during ethanol withdrawal. Fowler will discuss neural substrates controlling nicotine reward and aversion, and how these impact addiction, relapse, and comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Christie Fowler

UC Irvine
USA

Nobuyoshi Suto

Scripps Research Institute
USA

Candice Contet

Scripps Research Institute
USA

Ronald See

Westmont College
USA

Sunday April 22, 2018 (10:30 AM - 12:30 PM)

503.1 Mechanisms of memory flexibility

Chair: Marijn Kroes

For memory to be adaptive, it must be flexibly updated, integrated, and expressed as our environment changes. This symposium presents insights into neurocognitive mechanisms of memory flexibility in humans and non-human animals.We will discuss how instrumental learning alters Pavlovian memory expression, how memory reactivation can allow modification of Pavlovian and episodic memories during offline reconsolidation, how memories are prioritized during replay, and how active forgetting can attenuate “overfitting” of detailed episodic representations to our past experience. Highlighting both online and offline mechanisms of memory transformation, this symposium will emphasize how the dynamic nature of memory supports adaptive behavior.
Marijn Kroes

Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center
The Netherlands

Catherine Hartley

New York University
USA

Anna Schapiro

Harvard University
USA

Blake Richards

University of Toronto
Canada

503.4  Hippocampal Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

Chair: Theo van Erp

This symposium features four talks that focus on hippocampal dysfunction in schizophrenia. We will present on a model of hippocampal subfield dysfunction in psychosis, the contribution of encoding strategy and retrieval process to hippocampal dysfunction in people with schizophrenia, hippocampal resting state functional connectivity in schizophrenia and hippocampal subregion abnormalities in schizophrenia.
Theo van Erp

UC Irvine
USA

Carol Tamminga

UT Southwestern
USA

J. Daniel Ragland

UC Davis
USA

Adrienne Lahti

University of Alabama Birmingham
USA

503.3 Maximizing the Impact of Cognitive Interventions

Chairs: Carla Strickland-Hughes, Rachel Wu

What factors maximize the effectiveness of cognitive interventions? Strickland-Hughes will discuss the importance of beliefs in memory strategy training, demonstrating near transfer effects and enhanced self-regulation. Jaeggi will discuss the effects of spacing and consolidation on working memory training (WMT) outcomes and individual differences that moderate the intervention effectiveness. Seitz will discuss the relation between transfer and specificity in WMT and perceptual learning and how perceptual learning may inform WMT approaches that promote greater levels of transfer. Wu will integrate the talks with recommendations to shake-up the status quo of interventions via a lifespan approach.
Carla Strickland-Hughes

University of the Pacific
USA

Aaron Seitz

UC Riverside
USA

Susanne Jaeggi

UC Irvine
USA

Rachel Wu

UC Riverside
USA

 

503.4 In Search of Lost Time: Memory Engram Formation and Function

Chair: Tomás Ryan

Over the past 5 years, the ability to label and manipulate specific neuronal ensembles has allowed us to identify components of specific memory engrams in the rodent brain. This approach has the potential to revolutionize the study of memory, but our knowledge of memory engrams is still in its infancy. This Symposium will address fundamental questions at the core of engram formation and function. What kind(s) of plasticity mediates information storage in engram cells? How do engrams consolidate over time? What is the extent of a whole episodic memory engram in the brain? How broadly can the behavioral functionality of memory engrams be demonstrated in operant as well as Pavlovian paradigms?
Tomás Ryan

Trinity College Dublin
Ireland

Takashi Kitamura

UT Southwestern
USA

Kiriana Cowansage

UC San Diego
USA

Eisuke Koya

University of Sussex
United Kingdom

503.5 Rethinking content-based parcellation of the medial temporal lobe

Chairs: Sara Burke, Lee Ryan

A commonly held view is that perirhinal cortex (PRC) and postrhinal/parahippocampal cortex (POR/PHC) are preprocessors that are tuned to process objects and spatial information, respectively. An alternative view is beginning to emerge that derives from the known anatomical connections among medial temporal regions and is supported by lesion data, neurophysiological recordings, as well as aging and neuroimaging studies. Rather than taking a purely content-driven view of regional specialization within the medial temporal lobe, this symposium will discuss data and models of PRC and PHC/POR contributions to cognition that challenge their respective specialization in objects versus space.
Sara Burke

University of Florida
USA

Lee Ryan

University of Arizona
USA

Victoria Heimer-McGinn

Brown University
USA

Cyriel Pennartz

University of Amsterdam
The Netherlands