Neurogenesis-dependent remodeling of hippocampal circuits reduces PTSD-like behaviors in adult mice.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a hypermnesic condition that develops in a subset of individuals following exposure to severe trauma. PTSD symptoms are debilitating, and include increased anxiety, abnormal threat generalization, and impaired extinction. In developing treatment strategies for PTSD, preclinical studies in rodents have largely focused on interventions that target post-encoding memory processes such as reconsolidation and extinction. Instead, here we focus on forgetting, another post-encoding process that regulates memory expression. Using a double trauma murine model for PTSD, we asked whether promoting neurogenesis-mediated forgetting can weaken trauma memories and associated PTSD-relevant behavioral phenotypes. In the double trauma paradigm, consecutive aversive experiences lead to a constellation of behavioral phenotypes associated with PTSD including increases in anxiety-like behavior, abnormal threat generalization, and deficient extinction. We found that post-training interventions that elevate hippocampal neurogenesis weakened the original trauma memory and decreased these PTSD-relevant phenotypes. These effects were observed using multiple methods to manipulate hippocampal neurogenesis, including interventions restricted to neural progenitor cells that selectively promoted integration of adult-generated granule cells into hippocampal circuits. The same interventions also weakened cocaine place preference memories, suggesting that promoting hippocampal neurogenesis may represent a broadly useful approach in hypermnesic conditions such as PTSD and substance abuse disorders.

Engram neurons: Encoding, consolidation, retrieval, and forgetting of memory.

Tremendous strides have been made in our understanding of the neurobiological substrates of memory - the so-called memory "engram". Here, we integrate recent progress in the engram field to illustrate how engram neurons transform across the "lifespan" of a memory - from initial memory encoding, to consolidation and retrieval, and ultimately to forgetting. To do so, we first describe how cell-intrinsic properties shape the initial emergence of the engram at memory encoding. Second, we highlight how these encoding neurons preferentially participate in synaptic- and systems-level consolidation of memory. Third, we describe how these changes during encoding and consolidation guide neural reactivation during retrieval, and facilitate memory recall. Fourth, we describe neurobiological mechanisms of forgetting, and how these mechanisms can counteract engram properties established during memory encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. Motivated by recent experimental results across these four sections, we conclude by proposing some conceptual extensions to the traditional view of the engram, including broadening the view of cell-type participation within engrams and across memory stages. In collection, our review synthesizes general principles of the engram across memory stages, and describes future avenues to further understand the dynamic engram.

Elevation of Hippocampal Neurogenesis Induces a Temporally Graded Pattern of Forgetting of Contextual Fear Memories.

Throughout life neurons are continuously generated in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus. The subsequent integration of newly generated neurons alters patterns of dentate gyrus input and output connectivity, potentially rendering memories already stored in those circuits harder to access. Consistent with this prediction, we previously showed that increasing hippocampal neurogenesis after training induces forgetting of hippocampus-dependent memories, including contextual fear memory. However, the brain regions supporting contextual fear memories change with time, and this time-dependent memory reorganization might regulate the sensitivity of contextual fear memories to fluctuations in hippocampal neurogenesis. By virally expressing the inhibitory designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs, hM4Di, we first confirmed that chemogenetic inhibition of dorsal hippocampal neurons impairs retrieval of recent (day-old) but not remote (month-old) contextual fear memories in male mice. We then contrasted the effects of increasing hippocampal neurogenesis at recent versus remote time points after contextual fear conditioning in male and female mice. Increasing hippocampal neurogenesis immediately following training reduced conditioned freezing when mice were replaced in the context 1 month later. In contrast, when hippocampal neurogenesis was increased time points remote to training, conditioned freezing levels were unaltered when mice were subsequently tested. These temporally graded forgetting effects were observed using both environmental and genetic interventions to increase hippocampal neurogenesis. Our experiments identify memory age as a boundary condition for neurogenesis-mediated forgetting and suggest that, as contextual fear memories mature, they become less sensitive to changes in hippocampal neurogenesis levels because they no longer depend on the hippocampus for their expression.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT New neurons are generated in the hippocampus throughout life. As they integrate into the hippocampus, they remodel neural circuitry, potentially making information stored in those circuits harder to access. Consistent with this, increasing hippocampal neurogenesis after learning induces forgetting of the learnt information. The current study in mice asks whether these forgetting effects depend on the age of the memory. We found that post-training increases in hippocampal neurogenesis only impacted recently acquired, and not remotely acquired, hippocampal memories. These experiments identify memory age as a boundary condition for neurogenesis-mediated forgetting, and suggest remote memories are less sensitive to changes in hippocampal neurogenesis levels because they no longer depend critically on the hippocampus for their expression.

Age-dependent changes in spatial memory retention and flexibility in mice.

In humans, memories for events happening early in life are forgotten more rapidly than those for events later in life. This form of accelerated forgetting in infancy is also observed in non-human species, and has been most extensively characterized in rats. Here we expand the characterization of infantile forgetting to mice, a species where a broader range of genetic tools can be used to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this form of forgetting. Using a hidden platform version of the water maze task, we first assessed retention in mice that ranged in age from 15 to 150days-old at the beginning of training. All groups exhibited spatial memory when tested one day after training. However, only mice that were 20days or older at the time of training could remember one month later. Second, forgetting in younger cohorts of mice was not due to weaker encoding, since when younger mice were over-trained, such that their performance exceeded that of adult mice, they still exhibited forgetting. Third, in young mice, presentation of a reminder one month following training led to memory recovery, indicating that forgetting was due to a retrieval, rather than storage, deficit. Fourth, younger mice exhibited superior reversal learning compared to older mice, raising the possibility that a by-product of infantile forgetting might be greater flexibility.

Posttraining ablation of adult-generated olfactory granule cells degrades odor-reward memories.

Proliferation of neural progenitor cells in the subventricular zone leads to the continuous generation of new olfactory granule cells (OGCs) throughout life. These cells synaptically integrate into olfactory bulb circuits after ∼2 weeks and transiently exhibit heightened plasticity and responses to novel odors. Although these observations suggest that adult-generated OGCs play important roles in olfactory-related memories, global suppression of olfactory neurogenesis does not typically prevent the formation of odor-reward memories, perhaps because residual OGCs can compensate. Here, we used a transgenic strategy to selectively ablate large numbers of adult-generated OGCs either before or after learning in mice. Consistent with previous studies, pretraining ablation of adult-generated OGCs did not prevent the formation of an odor-reward memory, presumably because existing OGCs can support memory formation in their absence. However, ablation of a similar cohort of adult-generated OGCs after training impaired subsequent memory expression, indicating that if these cells are available at the time of training, they play an essential role in subsequent expression of odor-reward memories. Memory impairment was associated with the loss of adult-generated OGCs that were >10 d in age and did not depend on the developmental stage in which they were generated, suggesting that, once sufficiently mature, OGCs generated during juvenility and adulthood play similar roles in the expression of odor-reward memories. Finally, ablation of adult-generated OGCs 1 month after training did not produce amnesia, indicating that adult-generated OGCs play a time-limited role in the expression of odor-reward memories.

Conditional deletion of α-CaMKII impairs integration of adult-generated granule cells into dentate gyrus circuits and hippocampus-dependent learning.

New granule cells are continuously integrated into hippocampal circuits throughout adulthood, and the fine-tuning of this process is likely important for efficient hippocampal function. During development, this integration process is critically regulated by the α-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (α-CaMKII), and here we ask whether this role is conserved in the adult brain. To do this, we developed a transgenic strategy to conditionally delete α-CaMKII from neural progenitor cells and their progeny in adult mice. First, we found that the selective deletion of α-CaMKII from newly generated dentate granule cells led to an increase in dendritic complexity. Second, α-CaMKII deletion led to a reduction in number of mature synapses and cell survival. Third, consistent with altered morphological and synaptic development, acquisition of one-trial contextual fear conditioning was impaired after deletion of α-CaMKII from newly generated dentate granule cells. Previous work in Xenopus identified α-CaMKII as playing a key role in the stabilization of dendritic and synaptic structure during development. The current study indicates that α-CaMKII plays a plays a similar, cell-autonomous role in the adult hippocampus and, in addition, reveals that the loss of α-CaMKII from adult-generated granule cells is associated with impaired hippocampus-dependent learning.

Recovery of "Lost" Infant Memories in Mice.

Hippocampus-dependent, event-related memories formed in early infancy in human and non-human animals are rapidly forgotten. Recently we found that high levels of hippocampal neurogenesis contribute to accelerated rates of forgetting during infancy. Here, we ask whether these memories formed in infancy are permanently erased (i.e., storage failure) or become progressively inaccessible with time (i.e., retrieval failure). To do this, we developed an optogenetic strategy that allowed us to permanently express channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in neuronal ensembles that were activated during contextual fear encoding in infant mice. We then asked whether reactivation of ChR2-tagged ensembles in the dentate gyrus was sufficient for memory recovery in adulthood. We found that optogenetic stimulation of tagged dentate gyrus neurons recovered "lost" infant memories up to 3 months following training and that memory recovery was associated with broader reactivation of tagged hippocampal and cortical neuronal ensembles.

A Glo1-Methylglyoxal Pathway that Is Perturbed in Maternal Diabetes Regulates Embryonic and Adult Neural Stem Cell Pools in Murine Offspring.

Maternal diabetes is known to adversely influence brain development in offspring. Here, we provide evidence that this involves the circulating metabolite methylglyoxal, which is increased in diabetes, and its detoxifying enzyme, glyoxalase 1 (Glo1), which when mutated is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. Specifically, when Glo1 levels were decreased in embryonic mouse cortical neural precursor cells (NPCs), this led to premature neurogenesis and NPC depletion embryonically and long-term alterations in cortical neurons postnatally. Increased circulating maternal methylglyoxal caused similar changes in embryonic cortical precursors and neurons and long-lasting changes in cortical neurons and NPCs in adult offspring. Depletion of embryonic and adult NPCs was also observed in murine offspring exposed to a maternal diabetic environment. Thus, the Glo1-methylglyoxal pathway integrates maternal and NPC metabolism to regulate neural development, and perturbations in this pathway lead to long-lasting alterations in adult neurons and NPC pools.

Hippocampal neurogenesis regulates forgetting during adulthood and infancy.

Throughout life, new neurons are continuously added to the dentate gyrus. As this continuous addition remodels hippocampal circuits, computational models predict that neurogenesis leads to degradation or forgetting of established memories. Consistent with this, increasing neurogenesis after the formation of a memory was sufficient to induce forgetting in adult mice. By contrast, during infancy, when hippocampal neurogenesis levels are high and freshly generated memories tend to be rapidly forgotten (infantile amnesia), decreasing neurogenesis after memory formation mitigated forgetting. In precocial species, including guinea pigs and degus, most granule cells are generated prenatally. Consistent with reduced levels of postnatal hippocampal neurogenesis, infant guinea pigs and degus did not exhibit forgetting. However, increasing neurogenesis after memory formation induced infantile amnesia in these species.

Impaired recruitment of seizure-generated neurons into functional memory networks of the adult dentate gyrus following long-term amygdala kindling.

Epileptic seizures increase the birth of new neurons in the adult hippocampus. Although the consequences of aberrant neurogenesis on behavior are not fully understood, one hypothesis is that seizure-generated neurons might form faulty circuits that disrupt hippocampal functions, such as learning and memory. In the present study, we employed long-term amygdala kindling (i.e., rats receive 99-electrical stimulations) to examine the effect of repeated seizures on hippocampal neurogenesis and behavior. We labeled seizure-generated cells with the proliferation marker BrdU after 30-stimulations and continued kindling for an additional 4weeks to allow newborn neurons to mature under conditions of repeated seizures. After kindling was complete, rats were tested in a trace fear conditioning task and sacrificed 2h later to examine if 4-week old newborn cells were recruited into circuits involved in the retrieval of emotional memory. Compared to non-kindled controls, long-term kindled rats showed significant impairments in fear memory reflected in a decrease in conditioned freezing to both tone and contextual cues during testing. Moreover, long-term kindling also prevented the activation of 4-week old newborn cells in response to fear memory retrieval. These results indicate that the presence of seizure activity during cell maturation impedes the ability of new neurons to integrate properly into circuits important in memory formation. Together, our findings suggest that aberrant seizure-induced neurogenesis might contribute to the development of learning impairments in chronic epilepsy and raise the possibility that targeting the reduced activation of adult born neurons could represent a beneficial strategy to reverse cognitive deficits in some epileptic patients.

The progressive development of depression-like behavior in corticosterone-treated rats is paralleled by slowed granule cell maturation and decreased reelin expression in the adult dentate gyrus.

We have hypothesized that the extracellular matrix protein reelin is involved in the pathogenesis of major depression. This hypothesis is based on previous work in which we showed that repeated exposure to the stress hormone corticosterone, which increases depression-like behavior in rodents, also decreases the number of reelin+ cells in specific regions of the hippocampus and decreases hippocampal neurogenesis. In addition, we have found that heterozygous reeler mice, which express approximately 50% of normal brain levels of reelin, are more susceptible to the depressogenic effects of corticosterone than their wild-type counterparts. To further understand the relationship between corticosterone, reelin, and depression, we assessed whether the effects of corticosterone on hippocampal reelin expression and neurogenesis parallel the progressive development of depression-like behavior over a 21-day period. Rats were subjected to 7, 14 or 21 days of repeated corticosterone injections (40 mg/kg, s.c.) or vehicle injections followed by behavioral testing, immunohistochemistry, and Golgi analyses. We found that corticosterone-treated rats showed gradual increases in depression-like behavior over time, which were accompanied by similarly gradual decreases in reelin expression in the dentate subgranular zone and decreases in the number and dendritic complexity of surviving immature dentate granule cells. Interestingly, corticosterone had no significant effect on dendritic complexity in mature granule cells. These results support our hypothesis that reelin plays a role in the pathogenesis of depression and suggest that reelin could be an important target for the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of depression.