DevHippo

The ability to acquire knowledge and build internal models of our surrounding environment is critical for adaptive behavior. This internalisation process is at the core of various cognitive abilities, particularly those requiring us to represent information in the absence of direct sensory inputs or make prediction of future outcomes: spatial navigation, memory of autobiographic experiences (through mental time travel) but also social cognition. Importantly, internalisation abilities are not present at birth but progressively develop during childhood. This suggests that their neuronal substrates undergo a maturation process during critical periods sensitive to pathology. This project aims to investigate how internalisation functions and their underlying neuronal networks emerge during normal and pathological development. Specifically we will study the functional and physiological maturation of hippocampal networks, known to possess striking neuronal correlates of both internal and external processing as well as dedicated network substrates. Our specific aims are to 1) Better understand the development of internalisation in hippocampal cell activity during the third post natal week through the mapping of CA1 sub-circuits 2) Determine the underlying cellular and circuit mechanisms of internalisation during development and 3) Investigate how internalisation is affected in neurodevelopmental disorders involved in autism.