Animals can use a range of strategies to recall important locations. These include simple stimulus–response strategies and more complex spatial (place) strategies, which are thought to have distinct neural substrates. The hippocampus—and NMDA receptor activation therein—is considered to be crucial for spatial, but not response strategies. The medial prefrontal cortex has also been implicated in memory retrieval; however, evidence concerning its specific role is equivocal. Both hippocampal and prefrontal regions have been associated with flexible behavioural responding (e.g. when task demands change). Here, we investigated the use of spatial and non‐spatial strategies in the Morris water maze and their associated brain areas in rats using immediate early gene (IEG) imaging of Zif268 and c‐Fos. Specifically, we charted the involvement of hippocampal and prefrontal subregions during retrieval of spatial and non‐spatial memories. Behavioural flexibility was also examined using intact and partial cue configurations during recall. Results indicated that regions of both the hippocampus (area CA3) and prefrontal cortex (anterior cingulate cortex) were preferentially engaged in spatial memory recall compared to response learning. In addition, both spatial and non‐spatial memories were dependent on NMDA receptor activation. MK801 impaired recall performance across all groups and reduced IEG activation across hippocampal and prefrontal regions. Finally, IEG results revealed divergent patterns of Zif268 and c‐Fos activity and support the suggestion that Zif268 plays a functional role in the recall of long‐term memories.

中文翻译：

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海马和前额叶对记忆恢复的贡献：检查早期早期基因，NMDA受体和环境相互作用。

动物可以使用多种策略来召回重要位置。其中包括简单的刺激反应策略和更复杂的空间（位置）策略，这些策略被认为具有不同的神经底物。海马及其中的NMDA受体激活被认为对空间而非反应策略至关重要。内侧前额叶皮层也与记忆检索有关。但是，关于其特定作用的证据是模棱两可的。海马和前额叶区域都与灵活的行为反应有关（例如，当任务需求改变时）。在这里，我们使用Zif268和c-Fos的立即早期基因（IEG）成像技术，研究了大鼠莫里斯水迷宫及其相关脑区域中空间和非空间策略的使用。特别，我们绘制了在检索空间和非空间记忆过程中海马区和前额叶亚区的分布图。在召回过程中，还使用完整和部分提示配置检查了行为灵活性。结果表明，与反应学习相比，海马区（CA3区）和前额叶皮层（前扣带回皮层）都优先参与空间记忆记忆。此外，空间和非空间记忆都依赖于NMDA受体的激活。MK801损害了所有组的召回性能，并降低了海马和前额叶区域的IEG激活。最后，IEG结果揭示了Zif268和c-Fos活性的不同模式，并支持Zif268在回忆长期记忆中起功能性作用的建议。