Articles

  • the Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Article

Original Article

Exp Neurobiol 2021; 30(6): 430-440

Published online December 31, 2021

https://doi.org/10.5607/en21046

© The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Correlation between Alteration of Sharp-wave Ripple Coupled Cortical Oscillation and Long-term Memory Deficit in Alzheimer Disease Model Mice

Hyunwoo Yang and Yong Jeong*

Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KI for Health Science and Technology, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Korea

Correspondence to: *To whom correspondence should be addressed.
TEL: 82-42-350-4324, FAX: 82-42-864-5318
e-mail: yong@kaist.ac.kr

Received: November 24, 2021; Revised: December 16, 2021; Accepted: December 20, 2021

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, characterized by prominent episodic memory dysfunction. Recent studies have suggested that there is a sequential mechanism in the memory deficit, with long-term ones preceding short-term ones. However, there is lack of explanation for these symptoms. Interaction between the hippocampus and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) during slow-wave sleep (SWS) is a crucial step for successful long-term memory formation. In particular, sharp-wave ripple (SWR) is a principal hippocampus oscillation that coordinates with RSC activity. To determine the relationship between memory dysfunction and SWR-related oscillation changes in AD, we implanted local field potential electrodes in the hippocampus and RSC of AD model mice (APP/PS1). We found that the SWR-coupled ripple wave increased in the RSC, while the amplitude of the SWR was preserved. In addition, the corresponding delta power in hippocampus and RSC was elevated, together with altered delta synchrony in AD mice. All these findings showed a significant correlation with long-term memory deficits measured in contextual fear conditions. Our study suggests that altered SWR-coupled oscillations are a possible underlying mechanism of episodic memory dysfunction in AD mice.

Graphical Abstract


Keywords: Alzheimer disease, Episodic memory, Slow-wave sleep, Brain waves