Laboratory for Circuit and Behavioral Physiology

Understanding how the circuits of the brain interact to guide behavior is a fundamental goal of neuroscience. Our research focuses on the development and application of genetic and physiological tools in the mouse to understand how plasticity and transmission shapes memory in the hippocampal circuit and beyond.

Research Subjects

• In vivo physiology in the forebrain
• Hippocampal neurochemistry
• Genetic manipulaiton of neuronal circuits
• Spatial and contextual learning
• Neuromodulation, emotion and memory

Publications

1. Jones, MW and McHugh TJ.:
   "Updating hippocampal representations: CA2 joins the circuit"
   Trends Neurosci., 34(10):526-35.
2. Kamsler, A, McHugh, TJ, Gerber, D, Huang, S-Y and Tonegawa, S.:
   "Presynaptic m1 muscarinic receptors are necessary for mGluR long-term depression in the hippocampus."
   Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 107(4):1618-23, 2010.
3. McHugh, TJ and Tonegawa, S.:
   "CA3 NMDA Receptors are Required for the Rapid Formation of a Salient Contextual Representation"
   Hippocampus, 19(12): 1153-8, 2009.
4. Nakashiba, T*, Buhl, DL*, McHugh, TJ *, Tonegawa S.:
   "Hippocampal CA3 Output is Crucial for Ripple-Associated Reactivation and Consolidation of Memory"
   Neuron, 62, 781-787, 2009.
5. Nakashiba, T, Young, JZ, McHugh, TJ, Buhl, DL, Tonegawa S.:
   "Inducible, Reversible Inhibition of Synaptic Transmission Reveals the Role of CA3 Output in Hippocampal Learning and Memory."
   Science, 319(5876): 1260-4, 2008
6. McHugh, TJ *, Jones MW*, Quinn JJ, Balthasar N, Coppari R, Elmquist JK, Lowell BB, Fanselow MS, Wilson MA, Tonegawa S.:
   " Dentate gyrus NMDA receptors mediate rapid pattern separation in the hippocampal network"
   Science. 317(5834):94-9, 2007
7. McHugh, TJ and Tonegawa, S.:
   "Spatial exploration is required for the formation of contextual fear memory"
   Behav. Neurosci. 121(2):335-9, 2007.
8. McHugh, T.J., Blum, K.I., Tsien, J.Z., Tonegawa, S., and Wilson, M.A.:
   "Impaired Hippocampal Representation of Space in CA-1 Specific NMDAR1 Knockout Mice"
   Cell, 87:1339-1349, 1996.