Episodic meal-related memory limits later eating behavior.

Principal investigator Dr. MB Parent recently published a review paper in Neuroscience entitled, “Using Postmeal Measures and Manipulations to Investigate Hippocampal Mnemonic Control of Eating Behavior”.

In this review, she explores previous results from our lab showing that dorsal hippocampal (dHC) glutamatergic neurons are critical during the early postprandial period for limiting future intake. The review also honors renowned memory scientist Ivan Izquierdo's pioneering research using posttraining manipulations to study memory consolidation.

Use this link to view the review paper for free until March 15, 2022.

The figure below summarizes the main findings described in the review paper.

"Neural activity in dHC glutamatergic neurons during the early postprandial memory consolidation period is critical for limiting future intake and ingestion activates the molecular processes required for synaptic plasticity and memory formation during the early postprandial period. (A) Photoinactivation of dHC glutamatergic neurons before or during intake of a meal or inactivation that is given in the late postprandial period do not affect the amount eaten during the next meal. (B) Only inactivation given during the early postprandial memory consolidation period increases the amount eaten during the next meal and also promotes the initiation of the next meal. (C) Ingestion promotes two molecular events associated with synaptic plasticity and memory formation (phosphorylation of serine 831 residues on AMPARs and transcription of Arc mRNA) in dHC glutamatergic neurons during the early postprandial period."