Laboratory of Molecular Basis of Behavior

It remains poorly understood how ageing affects behavioural and molecular processes that support cognitive functions. It is, however, essential to understand these processes in order to develop therapeutic interventions that support successful cognitive ageing. Our data indicate that while young mice require PSD-95-dependent synaptic plasticity in dCA1 to make correct spatial choices (i.e. choices that require spatial information), old animals observe cage-mates and stick to a preferred corner to seek the reward. This strategy is resistant to the depletion of PSD-95 in the CA1 area. Overall, our study demonstrates that aged mice combine alternative behavioral and molecular strategies to approach and consume rewards in a complex environment. Secondly, the contribution of PSD-95-dependent synaptic functions in spatial choice changes with age.

01.10.2020. We have a new technicien in the lab. Welcome, Asia Frączek!

18.06.2020. Roberto Pagano just defended his thesis! Congratulations!

18.06.2020. Maria Nalberczak-Skóra just defended her thesis! Congratulations!

10.10.2019. She is not really from our team but... OLGA TOKARCZUK GOT THE NOBEL PRIZE!

01.05.2020. Kamil got PRELUDIUM grant! Congratulations! Do excitatory projections from nucleus reuniens to medial septum control remote fear memory extinction?

01.10.2019. We have a new PhD student. Welcome, Edyta Skonieczna!

30.09.2019. We have a paper accepted in Cerebral Cortex. Congratulations to all authors!

It is generally accepted that formation and storage of memory relies on alterations of the structure and function of brain circuits. However, the structural data, which show learning-induced and long-lasting remodeling of synapses, are still very sparse. Here, we reconstruct 1927 dendritic spines and their postsynaptic densities (PSDs), representing a postsynaptic part of the glutamatergic synapse, in the hippocampal area CA1 of the mice that underwent spatial training. We observe that in young adult (5 months), mice volume of PSDs, but not the volume of the spines, is increased 26 h after the training. The training-induced growth of PSDs is specific for the dendritic spines that lack smooth endoplasmic reticulum and spine apparatuses, and requires autophosphorylation of αCaMKII. Interestingly, aging alters training-induced ultrastructural remodeling of dendritic spines. In old mice, both the median volumes of dendritic spines and PSDs shift after training toward bigger values. Overall, our data support the hypothesis that formation of memory leaves long-lasting footprint on the ultrastructure of brain circuits; however, the form of circuit remodeling changes with age.

27.09.2019. We got Jerzy Konorski prize for 2019!

The commission appointed by the Neurobiology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Neuroscience Society leaded by the professor Marian Lewandowski decided to award the Jerzy Konorski prize for 2019 to the paper Generation of silent synapses in dentate gyrus correlates with development of alcohol addiction published by Anna Beroun, Maria Nalberczak-Skóra, Zofia Harda, Małgorzata Piechota, Magdalena Ziółkowska, Anna Pełka, Roberto Pagano and Kasia Radwańska (Neuropsychopharmacology, 2019; vol. 43, 1989–1999) doi: 10.1038/s41386-018-0119-4

More insight

Our reserch: memory and addiction

Memory processes, including memory formation, consolidation, forgetting or memory extinction, are fundamental brain functions. The importance of these processes can be understood not only in daily life, when our car keys are not where we left them, but most importantly in various psychiatric and neurologic illnesses. Memory processes are impaired in post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction or Alzheimer's disease just to name the few. Currently, the molecular basis of memory are not sufficiently understood to develop successful treatments for memory dysfunctions. Therfore our team is very much motivated to understand how the memory is formed, coded and transformed. For our experiments we combine molecular and morphological analyses of neurons with behavioral studies on laboratory animals. We employ both behavioral analysis of transgenic mice in the IntelliCage system as well as whole cell patch-clamp electrophysiology, confocal, electron and correlative 3D microscopy. The long-term aim to our research is to develop insights for treatments for memory dysfunctions in psychiatric illnesses. If you are interested to learn more have a look at the book "Novel Mechanisms of Memory"edited by Kasia Radwanska and K. Peter Giese.

projects

see the list of main projects run in the lab.

tools

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publications

list of our papers