While all Laidlaw Scholars will be presenting their research at the Columbia Undergraduate Research Symposium in the fall, what are the more immediate expectations that you have for your research? Are you writing a paper? Will your research be part of a larger scientific study? Do you hope to produce an annotated bibliography that you reflect on down the line? Is your research now the first phase of a project you’ll continue to work on throughout the year, and/or next summer? Now that we are nearing the one month mark of the program, please write about your expectations for your research.
My research this summer is part of a larger scientific study that I look forward to continue contributing to throughout the school year and even future summers. The Siegelbaum lab focuses on discovering the mechanisms behind social memory, and the postdoc I have been working closely with has been investigating the hippocampal CA2 region's role in the memory of acute social defeat. My work this summer explores the ventral CA1 region of the hippocampus, which is downstream from both ventral and dorsal CA2. I hope to determine whether the projections from CA2 to ventral CA1 are essential for the formation of memories of acute social defeat. I will prepare a report and poster presentation for Laidlaw that will reflect the methodologies used and results produced from my behavioral experiment along with establishing how my work contributes to the existing scholarly conversation.
Why does your research matter? Explain the significance of the question you are investigating, and why you are interested in it.
Social memory dysfunction is a symptom of several neuropsychiatric diseases in humans, and, more specifically, alterations in CA2 have been found in these diseases as well, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Thus, it is important to understand the complete pathway that can be affected, including the downstream target of CA2, ventral CA1. This is where my project comes in as I am explore the role of ventral CA1 in the formation of memories of acute social defeat. If the ventral CA1 is important for social memory, the mouse that received the injection containing the inhibitory receptor will no longer be able to recognize the aggressor mouse, which it had encountered the day prior. This lack of recognition will be identified by observing the behavior and interactions of the mice. Understanding the mechanisms that are impaired is essential before successfully developing any targeted therapeutics.