The Colloquium Series Sponsored by the Department of Psychology

Discourses from the Academy:  The Colloquium Series Sponsored by the Department of Psychology

A Reductionist Approach To Memory:  Use Of The Zebrafish Mauthner Neurocircuit To Identify And Understand Memory Traces*

by

Adam Roberts, Ph.D.

University of California at Los Angeles

Candidate for Assistant Professor of Psychology, NMU

We are pleased to extend an invitation to all interested persons -- Faculty, Staff, Students, Members of the Public -- to join us in listening to and participating in this session of our Colloquia Series. For further information please contact the Psychology Department, N.M.U., 227-2935.

*Due to the complexity of the vertebrate nervous system, identification of memory traces at the level of neurocircuits in a precise and reliable manner is a formidable task.  A reductionist approach to this task-use of behaviors with limited and well-defined neuronal pathways-should greatly facilitate the identification and elucidation of memory engrams.  To this end, we have chosen to investigate learning and memory in a simple model vertebrate system: the larval zebrafish escape response.  Biological attributes of larval zebrafish, such as transparency, in combination with a large toolbox to genetically manipulate neuronal function, makes this a highly tractable system for a mechanistic analysis of memory in a vertebrate organism.  We have demonstrated long-term habituation of the escape response and have made significant progress toward understanding the molecular basis of this memory.  I will present these findings and discuss the future direction of my research.