Brain areas interconnected to ventral pathway circuits are independently able to induce enhancement in object recognition memory and cause reversal in object recognition memory deficit.

AIMS

Ventral pathway circuits are constituted by the interconnected brain areas that are distributed throughout the brain. These brain circuits are primarily involved in processing of object related information in brain. However, their role in object recognition memory (ORM) enhancement remains unknown. Here, we have studied on the implication of these circuits in ORM enhancement and in reversal of ORM deficit in aging.

METHODS

The brain areas interconnected to ventral pathway circuits in rat brain were activated by an expression of a protein called regulator of G-protein signaling 14 of 414 amino acids (RGS14). RGS14 is an ORM enhancer and therefore used here as a gain-in-function tool. ORM test and immunohistochemistry, lesions, neuronal arborization, and knockdown studies were performed to uncover the novel function of ventral pathway circuits.

RESULTS

An activation of each of the brain areas interconnected to ventral pathway circuits individually induced enhancement in ORM; however, same treatment in brain areas not interconnected to ventral pathway circuits produced no effect. Further study in perirhinal cortex (PRh), area V2 of visual cortex and frontal cortex (FrC), which are brain areas that have been shown to be involved in ORM and are interconnected to ventral pathway circuits, revealed that ORM enhancement seen after the activation of any one of the three brain areas was unaffected by the lesions in other two brain areas either individually in each area or even concurrently in both areas. This ORM enhancement in all three brain areas was associated to increase in structural plasticity of pyramidal neurons where more than 2-fold higher dendritic spines were observed. Additionally, we found that an activation of either PRh, area V2, or FrC not only was adequate but also was sufficient for the reversal of ORM deficit in aging rats, and the blockade of RGS14 activity led to loss in increase in dendritic spine density and failure in reversal of ORM deficit.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that brain areas interconnected to ventral pathway circuits facilitate ORM enhancement by an increase in synaptic connectivity between the local brain area circuits and the passing by ventral pathway circuits and an upregulation in activity of ventral pathway circuits. In addition, the finding of the reversal of ORM deficit through activation of an interconnected brain area might serve as a platform for developing not only therapy against memory deficits but also strategies for other brain diseases in which neuronal circuits are compromised.