Cognitive impairment and autistic-like behaviour in SAPAP4-deficient mice.

In humans, genetic variants of DLGAP1-4 have been linked with neuropsychiatric conditions, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While these findings implicate the encoded postsynaptic proteins, SAPAP1-4, in the etiology of neuropsychiatric conditions, underlying neurobiological mechanisms are unknown. To assess the contribution of SAPAP4 to these disorders, we characterized SAPAP4-deficient mice.

Bidirectional prefrontal-hippocampal interactions support context-guided memory.

We compared the dynamics of hippocampal and prefrontal interactions in rats as they used spatial contexts to guide the retrieval of object memories. Functional connectivity analysis indicated a flow of contextual information from the hippocampus to prefrontal cortex upon the rat's entry into the spatial context. Conversely, upon the onset of object sampling, the direction of information flow reversed, consistent with prefrontal control over the retrieval of context-appropriate hippocampal memory representations.

Thalamic and Entorhinal Network Activity Differently Modulates the Functional Development of Prefrontal-Hippocampal Interactions.

Unlabelled: Precise information flow during mnemonic and executive tasks requires the coactivation of adult prefrontal and hippocampal networks in oscillatory rhythms. This interplay emerges early in life, most likely as an anticipatory template of later cognitive performance. At neonatal age, hippocampal theta bursts drive the generation of prefrontal theta-gamma oscillations.

Neonatal hypoxia-ischemia impairs juvenile recognition memory by disrupting the maturation of prefrontal-hippocampal networks.

High-prevalence/low-severity cognitive deficits represent the life-long burden of a perinatal hypoxic–ischemic (HI) insult. They have been proposed to result from dysmaturation of prelimbic-hippocampal networks, which account for mnemonic and executive performance. Already at neonatal age the communication within these networks is largely reduced after an early HI insult with mild/moderate structural outcome.

Hypoxia-ischemia disrupts directed interactions within neonatal prefrontal-hippocampal networks.

Due to improved survival rates and outcome of human infants experiencing a hypoxic-ischemic episode, cognitive dysfunctions have become prominent. They might result from abnormal communication within prefrontal-hippocampal networks, as synchrony and directed interactions between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus account for mnemonic and executive performance. Here, we elucidate the structural and functional impact of hypoxic-ischemic events on developing prefrontal-hippocampal networks in an immature rat model of injury.

Neonatal hippocampal lesion alters the functional maturation of the prefrontal cortex and the early cognitive development in pre-juvenile rats.

Mnemonic and executive performance is encoded into activity patterns of complex neuronal networks. Lesion studies revealed that adult recognition memory critically depends on the activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HP). However, its developmental profile remains poorly elucidated.

Coupled oscillations mediate directed interactions between prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of the neonatal rat.

The coactivation of prefrontal and hippocampal networks in oscillatory rhythms is critical for precise information flow in mnemonic and executive tasks, yet the mechanisms governing its development are still unknown. Here, we demonstrate that already in neonatal rats, patterns of discontinuous oscillatory activity precisely entrain the firing of prefrontal neurons and have distinct spatial and temporal organization over cingulate and prelimbic cortices. Moreover, we show that hippocampal theta bursts drive the generation of neonatal prefrontal oscillations by phase-locking the neuronal firing via axonal pathways.