# Understanding neural circuits for associative memory in the lateral entorhinal cortex

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2022 · $305,280

## Abstract

Project Summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common dementia, currently affects ~6 million individuals in the U.S. alone
and is expected to be 13 million by the year 2050. A major component of its devastation is the progressive loss
of the patient’s ability to form memories. Treatments for rescuing memory function in AD patients are nonexistent,
due in part to insufficient research performed to characterize the activity of memory-supporting neural circuits
compromised by the disease. The prospect of developing memory-restorative therapeutics that intervene in
anatomically precise neural circuits demands investigation of which circuit-level functions are impacted, when
during pathophysiological progression they show impairment, and how they relate to memory performance.
Neurons in the entorhinal cortex (EC) act as a gateway for sensory inputs feeding into the hippocampus. This
EC-hippocampus circuit is critical for memory formation and retrieval. Inside the EC, the lateral entorhinal cortex
(LEC) is a primary site of atrophy and activity loss in the early phases of AD. Despite its significance to AD
pathophysiology, it remains unclear what type of activity is lost in the LEC of AD patients or animal models. The
proposed studies will (Aim 1) determine the time course of Amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation and activity dysfunction
in the LEC, and (Aim 2) determine if dysfunction of LEC dopamine underlies associative memory impairment.
The project is expected to yield advances towards the development of therapeutics to rescue memory function
in the LEC.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10498173
- **Project number:** 3R01MH121736-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Kei M Igarashi
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $305,280
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-09-12 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10498173

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10498173, Understanding neural circuits for associative memory in the lateral entorhinal cortex (3R01MH121736-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10498173. Licensed CC0.

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