title: Cellular activation of hypothalamic hypocretin/orexin neurons facilitates short-term spatial memory in mice.
abstract: The hypothalamic hypocretin/orexin (HO) system holds a central role in the regulation of several physiological functions critical for food-seeking behavior including mnemonic processes for effective foraging behavior. It is unclear however whether physiological increases in HO neuronal activity can support such processes. Using a designer rM3Ds receptor activation approach increasing HO neuronal activity resulted in improved short-term memory for novel locations. When tested on a non-spatial novelty object recognition task no significant difference was detected between groups indicating that hypothalamic HO neuronal activation can selectively facilitate short-term spatial memory for potentially supporting memory for locations during active exploration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PD, UK.
authors.forename: Teemu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aitta-Aho
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PD, UK.
authors.forename: Elpiniki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pappa
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurophysiology, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London NW7 1AA, UK; MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burdakov
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PD, UK; Department of Neuroscience, Psychology & Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. Electronic address: iea6@le.ac.uk.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Apergis-Schoute
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000068797:Orexins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000068797:Orexins
keywords: Hypothalamus; Orexin; Recognition memory; Spontaneous alternation