In:
eLife, eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, Vol. 7 ( 2018-02-07)
Abstract:
Can we tell what important event a mouse – or even a person – has recently experienced? The current experience of an individual can be inferred from brain imaging experiments. However, along with changing brain activity, such an experience also switches on gene activity throughout the brain. This enables neurons to produce the proteins required to form a long-term memory of the experience. Do distinct, memorable experiences trigger unique signatures of gene activity? To answer this question, Mukherjee, Ignatowska-Jankowska, Itskovits et al. exposed mice to a variety of experiences. Some were unpleasant and induced aversion; for example, the mouse may have felt nauseous or experienced brief pain and fear. Other experiences, such as when the mouse drank sugary water, received food or was injected with cocaine, were rewarding. Each of the experiences led to the activation of unique combinations of genes in different regions of the brain. Analysing a subset of the activated genes in various brain regions led to the identification of unique and reliable gene expression signatures of experience. These signatures allowed the recent experience of mice to be decoded with nearly 100% accuracy. While these unique signatures can distinguish between recent experiences, experiences that share common features do trigger overlapping patterns of gene activation. For example, negative experiences – but not positive or neutral ones – activated similar patterns of genes in a brain region called the amygdala. In contrast, repeated rewarding experiences induced a distinct gene activity pattern that was most pronounced as increased activity in part of the brain called the frontal cortex. These findings increase our understanding of how the brain represents information. The approach described in the paper provides a strategy to measure the changes in the brain that occur when information is encoded for long-term storage. This measure could also be useful during drug development, revealing how new drug compounds affect the brain, as well as providing an objective measure of the subjective experience of an individual. For example, substances that trigger similar patterns of gene activation to addictive drugs may themselves be addictive. On the other hand, substances that induce similar activity patterns to known medications could also have similar therapeutic properties.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2050-084X
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.001
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.002
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.003
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.004
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.005
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.006
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.007
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.008
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.009
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.010
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.011
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.012
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.013
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.014
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.015
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.016
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.017
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.018
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.019
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.020
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.021
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.022
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.023
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.024
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.025
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.026
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.027
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.028
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.029
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.030
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.031
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.032
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.033
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.034
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.036
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.31220.037
Language:
English
Publisher:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Publication Date:
2018
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2687154-3
Permalink