Megha Sehgal, PhD., University of California, Los Angeles

Co-allocation to overlapping dendritic branches in the retrosplenial cortex integrates memories across time
 

Events  occurring  close  in  time  are  often  linked  in  memory, providing a framework for those memories. Recent studies suggest that memories acquired close in time are encoded by overlapping neuronal ensembles, but whether dendritic plasticity plays a role is unknown. Using in vivo longitudinal imaging of somas, dendrites, and spines along with activity-dependent manipulations of these compartments, we show that memory linking is not only dependent on  ensemble  overlap  in  
the  retrosplenial  cortex,  but  also  on branch-specific  dendritic  allocation  mechanisms.  These  results reveal a novel set of rules that govern how linked, and independent memories are allocated to dendritic compartments.