Neurociencias

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AMPA receptors: A key piece in the puzzle of memory retrieval.
(2021) Pereyra, Magdalena; Medina, Jorge Horacio
"Retrieval constitutes a highly regulated and dynamic phase in memory processing. Its rapid temporal scales require a coordinated molecular chain of events at the synaptic level that support transient memory trace reactivation. AMPA receptors (AMPAR) drive the majority of excitatory transmission in the brain and its dynamic features match the singular fast timescales of memory retrieval. Here we provide a review on AMPAR contribution to memory retrieval regarding its dynamic movements along the synaptic compartments, its changes in receptor number and subunit composition that take place in activity dependent processes associated with retrieval. We highlight on the differential regulations exerted by AMPAR subunits in plasticity processes and its impact on memory recall"
Behavioral tagging underlies memory reconsolidation
(2020-07) Rabinovich Orlandi, Iván; Fullio, Camila L.; Schroeder, Matías Nicolás; Giurfa, Martin; Ballarini, Fabricio; Moncada, Diego
"Memory reconsolidation occurs when a retrieving event destabilizes transiently a consolidated memory, triggering thereby a new process of restabilization that ensures memory persistence. Although this phenomenon has received wide attention, the effect of new information cooccurring with the reconsolidation process has been less explored. Here we demonstrate that a memory retrieving event sets a neural tag, which enables the reconsolidation of memory after binding proteins provided by the original or a different contiguous experience. We characterized the specific temporal window during which this association is effective and identified the protein kinase A (PKA) and the extracellular signalregulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK 1/2) pathways as the mechanisms related to the setting of the reconsolidation tag and the synthesis of proteins. Our results show, therefore, that memory reconsolidation is mediated by a “behavioral tagging” process, which is common to different memory forms. They represent a significant advance in understanding the fate of memories reconsolidated while being adjacent to other events, and provide a tool for designing noninvasive strategies to attenuate (pathological/traumatic) or improve (education-related) memories. "
Can self-compassion predict future anxiety and depression?: A cross-lagged panel model analysis in a Dominican Republic sample
(2021) Jiménez Payano, Daniel; García, Luisa; Nazir, Asha; Bonilla, Luz; Veras, Greicy; Rodríguez, Leidy; Rivas, Elain; Tejada, María; Flores Kanter, Pablo Ezequiel
"Emotional dysregulation, in the form of anxiety and depression, has a significant economic, social and psychological impact on a global scale. Several approaches have been developed in the hope of helping people to better regulate these emotions, with mixed results. Specifically, third-wave therapies seem to perform particularly well. These therapies share the variable of self-compassion, which both in evolutive and practical terms appears to be a key variable in regulating difficult emotional states such as anxiety and depression. The objective of this research was to verify the adjustment of an explanatory model of anxiety and depression, which considers the effect of self-compassion. A sample of 371 residents in Dominican Republic was used and a cross-lagged panel model analysis was carried out. The measurement model fit the data well. Also, it is possible to verify that self-compassion at time 1 predicts depression and anxiety at Time 2 in a theoretically coherent direction. Clinical implications for non-WEIRD countries are discussed."
Can we be “out” of our body? Characterization and clinical implications of out-of-body experiences during sleep paralysis: Preliminary results
(2021) Herrero, Nerea; Gallo, Francisco; Forcato, Cecilia
"Sleep paralysis is a period of transitory immobility which occurs during sleep onset or offset. It is characterized by the inability to perform voluntary movements when the person feels awake and conscious about the environment. During an episode of sleep paralysis can occur different types of hallucinations: The Intruder, characterized by the sense of an evil and threatening presence, visual and tactile hallucinations. The Incubus, characterized pressure on the chest and other body parts, breathing difficulties, feelings of suffocation, choking, pain and morbid thoughts of imminent death. Unusual body experiences which includes Illusory Movement Experiences (IMEs) and Out of Body Experiences (OBEs). IMEs are vestibular sensations such as the sensation of rolling or floating, and/or motor sensations of displacement without a visual component.The OBEs are an altered state of consciousness, defined as the experience in which an observer perceives the world from a point of view outside of their physical body. Unlike the other two components (incubus and intruder), during IMEs and OBEs the person may not feel body paralysis, and they are considered as more pleasant. OBEs during sleep paralysis can occur spontaneously or it can be induced with training by the recognition of an aura that precedes the experience. Here, we will discuss preliminary results of an online survey with subjects who had unusual sleep experiences, such as OBEs and Sleep Paralysis and its clinical implications."
Cued memory reactivation is more effective during slow wave sleep than sleep stage 2
(2020) Carbone, Julia; Forcato, Cecilia; Born, Jan; Diekelmann, Susanne
"Compare cued memory reactivation during Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) and sleep Stage 2 (S2)."
Declarative memory consolidation dynamics: new time windows and its implications for clinical application
(2020) Moyano, Malen D.; Bonilla, Matías; Blanco, Marcelo F.; Brusco, Luis Ignacio; Pedreira, María Eugenia; Kaczer, Laura; Forcato, Cecilia
"After encoding, memories go through a labile state followed by a stabilization process known as consolidation. Once consolidated they can enter a new labile state after the presentation of a reminder (cue) of the original memory, followed by a period of re-stabilization (reconsolidation). In both processes, once stabilization/re-stabilization is accomplished the memory cannot be modified. Currently there are studies that show a rapid stabilization after 30 min, while others studies show that stabilization occurs after 6h. However, there are no studies evaluating short and long delays simultaneously. Knowing that there are spontaneous waves of destabilization (without the re-exposure to keys linked to learning) on which the consolidation and memory persistence depend, here we investigate whether declarative memories in humans suffer spontaneous labilization/stabilization processes after learning or if they only pass through a single time window of lability."
Differential neurophysiological correlates of retrieval of consolidated and reconsolidated memories in humans: an ERP and pupillometry study
(2020-10) Campos-Arteaga, G.; Forcato, Cecilia; Wainstein, G.; Lagos, R.; Palacios-García, I.; Artigas, C.; Morales, R.; Pedreira, María Eugenia; Rodríguez, E.
"Consolidated memories can return to a labile state if they are reactivated by unpredictable reminders. To persist, active memories must be re-stabilized through a process known as reconsolidation. Although there is consistent behavioral evidence about this process in humans, the retrieval process of reconsolidated memories remains poorly understood. In this context, one fundamental question is whether the same or different neurophysiological mechanisms are involved in retrieval of consolidated and reconsolidated memories. Because it has been demonstrated that the exposure to the reconsolidation process may restructure and strengthen memories, we hypothesized distinct neurophysiological patterns during retrieval of reconsolidated memories. In addition, we hypothesized that interfering with the reconsolidation process using a new learning can prevent these neurophysiological changes. To test it, consolidated, reconsolidated and declarative memories whose reconsolidation process was interfered (i.e., picture-word pairs) were evaluated in humans in an old/new associative recall task while the brain activity and the pupillary response were recorded using electroencephalography and eyetracking. Our results showed that retrieval of reconsolidated memories elicits specific patterns of brain activation, characterized by an earlier peak latency and a smaller magnitude of the left parietal ERP old/new effect compared to memories that were only consolidated or whose reconsolidation process was interfered by a new learning. Moreover, our results demonstrated that only retrieval of reconsolidated memories is associated with a late reversed mid-frontal effect in a 600–690 time window. Complementarily, memories that were reactivated showed an earlier peak latency of the pupil old/new effect compared to non-reactivated memories. These findings support the idea that reconsolidation has an important impact in how memories are retrieved in the future, showing that retrieval of reconsolidated memories is partially supported by specific brain mechanisms."
Dopamine D1/D5 receptors in the restrosplenial cortex are necessary to consolidate object recognition memory
(2022-07-22) de Landeta, Ana Belén; Medina, Jorge Horacio; Katche, Cynthia
"The retrosplenial cortex (RSC) has been widely related to spatial and contextual memory. However, we recently demonstrated that the anterior part of the RSC (aRSC) is required for object recognition (OR) memory consolidation. In this study, we aimed to analyze the requirement of dopaminergic inputs into the aRSC for OR memory consolidation in male rats. We observed amnesia at 24-h long-term memory when we infused SCH23390, a D1/D5 dopamine receptors antagonist, into aRSC immediately after OR training session. However, the same infusion had no effect on OR short-term memory. Then, we analyzed whether the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is necessary for OR consolidation. VTA inactivation by intra-VTA administration of muscimol, a GABAA agonist, immediately after an OR training session induced amnesia when animals were tested at 24 h. Moreover, we observed that this VTA inactivation-induced amnesia was reversed by the simultaneous intra-aRSC delivery of SKF38393, a D1/D5 receptor agonist. Altogether, our results suggest that VTA dopaminergic inputs to aRSC play an important modulatory role in OR memory consolidation."
Dopamine neurotransmission in the VTA regulates aversive memory formation and persistence
(2022-09-01) Castillo Díaz, Fernando; Dalto, Juliana F.; Pereyra, Magdalena; Medina, Jorge Horacio
"Dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) innervating several limbic and neocortical regions of the mammalian brain have long been implicated in motivation, rewarding and aversive behaviors, and memory processing. Recently, we demonstrated that somatodendritic release of DA in the VTA regulates the formation and maintenance of appetitive long-term memories (LTM). However, less is known about the impact of DA neurotransmission in the VTA on aversive LTM. Here, we describe the modulation of negative-valence memories by D1/D5-type DA (D1R)-receptor-mediated neurotransmission in the VTA. As aversive stimuli elicit both active and passive behavioral responses, we used two single-trial aversive training protocols: inhibitory avoidance task and conditioned place aversion. We bilaterally microinfused SCH23390, an antagonist of D1R, into the VTA immediately after training and found that DA neurotransmission in the VTA modulates LTM consolidation and persistence of aversive experiences. Together with previous findings demonstrating that D1R mediated DA neurotransmission in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus is involved in the formation and persistence of LTM for aversive events, our present results indicate that memory processing of environmental stimuli with negative-valence depends on the integration of information mediated by D1R activation in both the VTA region and in selected downstream target areas."
Dream content during lucid dreams and out-of body experiences, differences and similarities
(2021) Gallo, Francisco; Herrero, Nerea; Tommasel, a; Gleiser, Pablo; Godoy, Daniela; Forcato, Cecilia
"During sleep, humans experience offline visual content that we call dreams, which are typically emotional and lack rational judgment about their strangeness. However, during lucid dreaming (LD), subjects know they are dreaming and can control the dream content. Another type of awere dream experience is the out-of-body experience (OBE) initiated from sleep paralysis. Although the differences between non-LD, LD and OBEs are evident, there is no record in the literature of such differences in dream content and some researchers describe OBEs as a type of LD. We conducted interviews with subjects who experienced LD and subjects who had OBEs frequently. A portion of them kept a dream journal for two months with precise instructions on how to write down their dreams. The collected dreams were analyzed by automatic methods of analysis of emotions such as EmoLex and Sentisense, also with classifiers such as Empath. The dream stories provided by the participants were scored with a series of ratings using a method based on Hall and Van de Castle's dream content scoring system upon which we developed variations and additional measures to adapt to the requirements of our task. The scoring was divided into sections, hought/emotion/action, presence of entities/characters and social interactions, sensory descriptions, spatial references, fantasy content, among others. Here we present the preliminary progress of this study of oneiric content."
Emotional episodic memory formation during Covid-19 quarentine: preliminary results
(2020) León, Candela S.; Bonilla, Matías; Urreta Benítez, Facundo A.; Forcato, Cecilia
"Episodic memory is the ability to recover past experiences and projects ourselves into the future. It is related to contextual information (both spatially and temporally). This type of memory is highly sensitive to aging, the passage of time, forgetfulness, interference and confusion. Furthermore, episodic memory processes are modulated by both anxiety and depression. People's mental health has deteriorated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, showing higher levels in both values. There is a general consensus that pleasant or aversive events are better remembered than neutral events. Regarding false memories, there is no such consensus. Some authors found that emotional content generates more false memories, however, it was also found that negative content reduces false memories. In this study we evaluated the effects of emotional variables, such as anxiety and depression, on memory encoding and consolidation of true and false details of aversive and neutral stories."
EPOC Emotiv EEG Basics
(2022-10) Ramele, Rodrigo; Villar, Ana Julia; Santos, Juan Miguel
This document provides some basic guidance to start working with the EPOC Emotiv neuroheadset device and describes how to use it to perform basic Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) research. A brief tutorial on how to set up the device, from its electrophysiological point of view, as well as a description and practical code to perform some basic analysis, is explained. A basic experiment is introduced to detect one of the oldest and, indeed, quite still valuable electrophysiological correlate, visual occipital alpha waves, or Berger Rhythm. An additional experiment is expounded where the power spectrum of alpha waves is reduced when a subject is affected by background cognitive disturbances. This document also briefs about the extraction of information by using the EPOC Emotiv library and also with python Emokit package. This report presents a basic guide on how to use EEGLAB + MATLAB, as well as python stack to perform the neurophysiological analysis. Finally, a basic analysis on different feature extraction and classification methods is provided.
False memory formation during Covid-19 quarantine: age, sleep quality and emotional variables. Preliminary results
(2020) Bonilla, Matías; León, Candela S.; Urreta Benítez, Facundo A.; Lippmann-Mazzaglia, Natalia; Calvo, Camila; Garrido, Manuel; Forcato, Cecilia
"False memories are memories of events that did not happen or are altered in their content. It has been shown that not only small distortions can be introduced into old memories but also entire memories of events that never occurred can be implanted. Age is a crucial factor in the formation of false memories. Currently there is no consensus on which age range is more vulnerable. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety and depression values are increased and these factors also influence the formation of false memories.Thus, our aim was to study how age and mood factors, such as anxiety and depression, influence the formation of false memories."
Formación de memorias episódicas aversivas durante la pandemia por COVID-19
(2021) León, Candela S.; Bonilla, Matías; Urreta Benítez, Facundo A.; Brusco, Luis Ignacio; Wang, Jingyi; Forcato, Cecilia
"La memoria episódica es la capacidad de recordar qué, dónde y cuándo ocurrió un evento. Además, existe consenso en cuanto a que los eventos agradables o aversivos se recuerdan mejor que los eventos neutrales y que los procesos de memoria episódica están modulados por la ansiedad y la depresión. La salud mental de las personas se ha deteriorado debido a la pandemia de COVID-19, mostrando un aumento de los síntomas de ansiedad y depresión. Aquí, planteamos la hipótesis de que el aumento de síntomas negativos modifica la capacidad de codificar y consolidar recuerdos. Para estudiar esto, evaluamos los efectos del contexto emocional en la codificación y consolidación de recuerdos episódicos neutrales y aversivos."
Functional connectivity of anterior retrosplenial cortex in object recognition memory
(2021) de Landeta, Ana Belén; Pereyra, Magdalena; Miranda, Magdalena; Bekinschtein, Pedro; Medina, Jorge Horacio; Katche, Cynthia
"Recognition memory can rely on three components: “what”, “where” and “when”. Recently we demonstrated that the anterior retrosplenial cortex (aRSC), like the perirhinal cortex (PRH) and unlike the hippocampus (HP), is required for consolidation of the “what” component. Here, we aimed at studying which brain structures interact with the aRSC to process object recognition (OR) memory in rats. We studied the interaction of six brain structures that are connected to the aRSC during OR memory processing: PRH, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), anteromedial thalamic nuclei (AM), medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsal HP (dHP). We previously described the role of the PRH and dHP, so we first studied the participation of the mPFC, AM, MEC and ACC in OR memory consolidation by bilateral microinfusions of the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol. We observed an impairment in OR long-term memory (LTM) when inactivating the mPFC, the AM and the MEC, but not the ACC. Then, we studied the functional connections by unilateral inactivation of the aRSC and each one of the six structures in the same (ipsilateral) or the opposite (contralateral) hemisphere. Our results showed an amnesic LTM effect in rats with ipsilateral inactivations of aRSC-PRH, aRSC-mPFC, aRSC-AM, or aRSC-MEC. On the other hand, we observed memory impairment when aRSC-ACC were inactivated in opposite hemispheres, and no effect when the aRSC-dHP connection was inactivated. Thus, our ipsilateral inactivation findings reveal that the aRSC and, at least one brain region required in OR LTM processing are essential to consolidate OR memory. In conclusion, our results show that several cortico-cortical and cortico thalamic pathways are important for OR memory consolidation."
Identification performance during quarantine by COVID-19 pandemic: Influence of emotional variables and sleep quality
(2021) Urreta Benítez, Facundo A.; León, Candela S.; Bonilla, Matías; Flores-Kanter, Pablo Ezequiel; Forcato, Cecilia
"The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions in people’s lives around the globe. Sleep habits and emotional balance have been disturbed in a way that could be comparable to the havoc caused by a deep personal crisis or a traumatic experience. This unfortunate situation provides a unique context in which to study the impact of these imbalances on cognitive processes. In particular, the field of eyewitness science could benefit from these conditions, since they are also often present in crime victims, but can only be generated in the laboratory up to a certain ethical and practical limit. For several decades, eyewitness studies have tried to discover what variables affect people’s ability to properly recognize faces. However, the disparity of experimental designs and the limitations of laboratory work could be contributing to the lack of consensus around several factors, such as sleep, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, the possibility of observing the influence of these agents in natural contexts could shed light on this discussion. Here, we perform simple and repeated lineups with witnesses of mock-crime, considering the conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which to some extent allow emulating the deterioration in general well-being that often afflicts crime victims. For this, 72 participants completed symptomatology scales, and watched a video portraying a staged violent episode. Subsequently, they gave testimony and participated in two lineups, in which we manipulated the presence/absence of the perpetrator, to recreate critical scenarios for the appearance of false recognitions. We found an increase in recognition errors in those individuals who did not have access to the perpetrator during the Initial lineup. Additionally, the conditions of the pandemic appear to have adversely affected the ability to witness and accurately perform lineups. These results reaffirm the need to move toward the standardization of research practices and methods for assessing testimonial evidence, especially in relation to the results of the lineups. Considering the degree of fallibility of these processes can lead to a reduction of wrongful convictions."
The impact of sleep hygiene on emotional variables and memory processes in prision inmates
(2021) Martín, Alejandra; Bonilla, Matías; Tassone, Leonela M.; Gallo, Francisco; Forcato, Cecilia
"Having a good sleep quality is essential for a healthy life. Lack or poor quality of sleep can negatively affect various brain functions such as emotional processing and memory acquisition and consolidation. In addition, prolonged sleep deprivation, as well as the deterioration of the sleep quality are correlated with depressed mood, anger, aggressive behavior and anxiety. The prison experience can be inherently stressful and lead to disturbed sleep patterns. In prison, the most common sleep disorder is insomnia. When left untreated, it can negatively affect daytime functioning and work productivity, and it can influence inmate adverse behavior such as exacerbating irritability or aggression. Improving sleep in prison offers the potential to positively impact several of these common risk factors for both staff and inmates. Thus, we propose a sleep hygiene treatment to improve sleep habits in the prison environment. Here, we will discuss the project and preliminary data of one-month treatment of sleep hygiene in prison inmates."
The impact of time, age and frequency of use on recognizing personal items of our closest ones: Forensic implications. Preliminary results
(2021) Bonilla, Matías; Vidal, Vanesa; León, Candela S.; Urreta Benítez, Facundo A.; Forcato, Cecilia
"Sometimes people have to recognize belongings of close ones that were found in places where, for example, genocides took place. This is done in order to pinpoint a missing person's last whereabouts and in some cases because the family asks to keep with their belongings. To do this, one part of the process is asking the relatives of the missing person to identify the items. However, in some cases (e.g. the missing people during the last Argentine military dictatorship) these procedures have been put in doubt by the legal system in order to prevent errors such as two or more families recognizing the same item as their own and thus to prevent nonsense re-exposure to traumatic memories. To the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of studies evaluating our performance on recognition of clothes from close ones. It is known that our capacity to correctly recognize items depends on various factors, such as age, frequency of item exposure, level of stress, sleep, among others [1-4]. Here, we will discuss preliminary data of how different factors such as time, age and frequency of use modulate the capacity to correctly and falsely recognize personal items of close ones. These results can enlighten and help the everyday practice of organizations such asthe “Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology” (EAAF) to make decisions about the reliability of the clothing recognition by the victim’s relatives."
Impairment of aversive episodic memories during Covid-19 pandemic: The impact of emotional context on memory processes
(2022-06) León, Candela S.; Bonilla, Matías; Urreta Benítez, Facundo A.; Brusco, Luis Ignacio; Wang, Jingyi; Forcato, Cecilia
"The threatening context of the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique setting to study the effects of negative psychological symptoms on memory processes. Episodic memory is an essential function of the human being related to the ability to store and remember experiences and anticipate possible events in the future. Studying this function in this context is crucial to understand what effects the pandemic will have on the formation of episodic memories. To study this, the formation of episodic memories was evaluated by free recall, recognition, and episode order tasks for an aversive and neutral content. The results indicated that aversive episodic memory is impaired both in the free recall task and in the recognition task. Even the beneficial effect that emotional memory usually has for the episodic order was undermined as there were no differences between the neutral and aversive condition. The present work adds to the evidence that indicates that the level of activation does not modify memory processes in a linear way, which also depends on the type of recall and the characteristics of the content to be encoded."
Impairment of aversive episodic memories during covid-19 pandemic: The impact of emotional context on memory processes
(2021) León, Candela S.; Bonilla, Matías; Urreta Benítez, Facundo A.; Brusco, Luis Ignacio; Wang, Jingyi; Forcato, Cecilia
"Episodic memory is the ability to recall about what, where and when the event happened. Furthermore, there is a consensus that pleasant or aversive events are better remembered than neutral events and that episodic memory processes are modulated by anxiety and depression. People's mental health has deteriorated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, showing a growth in anxiety and depressive symptoms. Here, we hypothesize that the increase in negative symptoms modifies the ability to encode and consolidate memories. To study this, we evaluated the effects of emotional context on encoding and consolidation of aversive and neutral episodic memories."

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