TEAM MEMBERS:
Dylan Layfield (Project lead)
Nathan Sidell
Kevin Blankenberger
Beth Simmons
Zach Miklin
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Background
The phenomenon in question in this experiment is the retrieval practice effect, which is the strengthening of a memory by practicing retrieving it from long term memory. It is important that we understand the mechanism of the retrieval practice effect because it is utilized heavily in education (i.e. a professor asking a student about a piece of knowledge they learned rather than repeating the information to strengthen their knowledge).
Our experiment seeks to determine whether the hippocampus is used in the retrieval practice effect, specifically the dorsal hippocampus. The dorsal hippocampus contains the CA1 region, which if inactivated, prevents information output from the hippocampus. Logically, the hippocampus should be involved in the retrieval practice since the hippocampus is a major biological component in the formation of memories. The project is mainly based off of Crystal J. et al, 2013.
Methods
The project is a behavioral experiment, meaning we collect data via the behavior of a rat in a maze and manipulate variables, such as the expression of certain brain regions. It can be broken down into three stages:
Teaching the rats the task of the experiment
Performing a bilateral cannula implantation in a survival surgery
Collecting the data of the experiment under different conditions.
The description of each of the stages can be found in more detail in the retrieval practice project page in the tutorials section of the lab wiki.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS:
The project isn’t completed yet, but preliminary results have been surprising. At first, the study seemed to show that the hippocampus has no significant role in the retrieval practice effect, but a more recent observation of the data shows that the rats haven’t had the opportunity to use the retrieval practice effect. The use of infusions in the data collection adds a source of stress to the rat which is the current hypothesis for why the retrieval practice effect isn’t shown.