Cross-Network Novelty Encoding along the VTA-Hippocampal Pathway

The ability to continually integrate novel information in memory is central to everyday behaviour. Two neuronal regions of the mammalian brain are involved in this process: the hippocampus for its role in mnemonic information processing and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) for its ability to detect environmental novelty. Previous studies have shown that the VTA sends direct neuronal projections to the hippocampus. However, how such VTA-to-Hippocampus neural pathway supports memory formation in the context of novelty detection remains unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, first I will identify the neuron types that compose the VTA-to-Hippocampus pathway. Then, I will study the neuronal computations that support information processing along this pathway. Lastly, I will examine the VTA-to-Hippocampus neuronal dynamics during continuous memory formation of novel items (objects). Together, this project will provide to better understanding of how the healthy brain processes and stores novel information for memory-guided behaviour. Furthermore, these insights could form the foundation of new research on diseases involving memory impairment such as Alzheimer's and could potentially inform research studying information processing and continuous learning in artificial intelligence.