Evan Wegienka
Pronouns: he/him/his
Research Mentor(s): Gideon Rothschild
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Psychology / LSA
Program: UROP
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Authors: Evan Wegienka, Ekin Kaya, Alexandra Akhtarzandi-Das, Gideon Rothschild
Abstract
Electrophysiological activity in the hippocampus during periods of consummatory behavior or non-REM sleeping contain high frequency neuronal events known as sharp wave ripples (SWRs). These oscillations, while primarily linked to memory replay and consolidation, have also begun to be examined in regards to their relationship with metabolic events. We set out to examine how SWRs can be modulated by variations in food intake by examining the local field potential activity of freely behaving mice with access to varying amounts of food. We observed that as food consumption increased, an increase in SWR power occurred. A potential mechanism to this effect may be hippocampal interactions with ghrelin: a gut hormone that stimulates hunger. Our findings show that the subcutaneous injection of ghrelin led to a consistent decrease in ripple power, which aligns with our observations regarding feeding and SWRs. These experiments suggest that sharp wave ripples and, therefore, hippocampal activity can be directly affected by feeding behavior. In the future, the results of this study can serve as a foundation for research pertaining to metabolic-cognitive interactions.
