Grant: Operating Grant

The role of the hippocampus in executive function is an emerging topic of interest. Its damage leads to several cognitive deficits such as poor working memory, impulsivity and perseveration, that lead to general disorganization of behaviour, thereby hindering ones ability to plan, organise and generate novel problem-solving strategies. These behavioural deficits are features of prefrontal dysfunction, raising the question whether the hippocampus (HC), whose main outputs innervate the prefrontal cortex (PFC), is instrumental in shaping executive behaviour. The present research plan is a comprehensive study of the role of the HC in executive function. Combining techniques of neuropsychology and psychopharmacology in rodents, the goal of the proposed research is to gain a better understanding of the functional roles of the dorsal and ventral subdivisions of the HC in executive function, and their respective modulation by the neurotransmitters dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT), both of which are known to be important in modulating prefrontal-executive function. Executive deficits are characteristic of neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease) and chronic mental illnesses (e.g., schizophrenia); for these patients, the disruption of attention, memory, planning, and behavioural flexibility that can persist long after their acute symptoms subside, act to severely compromise their quality of life. Unfortunately, current pharmacotherapies fail to improve these enduring executive deficits and they are important targets for treatment. An understanding of the basic neural mechanisms that underlie cognitive function will help us develop new, more comprehensive and effective treatments for disorders of executive function.