memory; hippocampus; amnesia; development; autism; epilepsy; schizophrenia
Lavenex P (2011), Neuroanatomic organization and fundamental dunctions of the hippocampus and th amygdala, in Riva D et al (ed.), John Libbey Eurotext, London, 89-118.
Chareyron Loïc J, Lavenex Pamela Banta, Amaral David G, Lavenex Pierre (2011), Postnatal development of the amygdala: A stereological study in macaque monkeys., in
The Journal of comparative neurology, 1-21.
Chareyron Loïc J, Banta Lavenex Pamela, Amaral David G, Lavenex Pierre (2011), Stereological analysis of the rat and monkey amygdala., in
The Journal of comparative neurology, 519(16), 3218-39.
Banta Lavenex Pamela, Lecci Sandro, Prêtre Vincent, Brandner Catherine, Mazza Christian, Pasquier Jérôme, Lavenex Pierre (2011), As the world turns: short-term human spatial memory in egocentric and allocentric coordinates., in
Behavioural brain research, 219(1), 132-41.
Jabès Adeline, Lavenex Pamela Banta, Amaral David G, Lavenex Pierre (2011), Postnatal development of the hippocampal formation: a stereological study in macaque monkeys., in
The Journal of comparative neurology, 519(6), 1051-70.
Lavenex Pierre, Sugden Steven G, Davis Ryan R, Gregg Jeffrey P, Lavenex Pamela Banta (2011), Developmental regulation of gene expression and astrocytic processes may explain selective hippocampal vulnerability., in
Hippocampus, 21(2), 142-9.
Banta Lavenex Pamela, Lavenex Pierre (2010), Spatial relational learning and memory abilities do not differ between men and women in a real-world, open-field environment., in
Behavioural brain research, 207(1), 125-37.
Jabès Adeline, Lavenex Pamela Banta, Amaral David G, Lavenex Pierre (2010), Quantitative analysis of postnatal neurogenesis and neuron number in the macaque monkey dentate gyrus., in
The European journal of neuroscience, 31(2), 273-85.
Banta Lavenex Pamela, Lavenex Pierre (2009), Spatial memory and the monkey hippocampus: not all space is created equal., in
Hippocampus, 19(1), 8-19.
Lavenex P (2009), Neuroanatomy methods in humans and animals, in Squire L (ed.), Academic Press, San Diego, 269-278.
Lavenex Pierre, Lavenex Pamela Banta, Bennett Jeffrey L, Amaral David G (2008), Postmortem changes in the neuroanatomical characteristics of the primate brain: hippocampal formation., in
The Journal of comparative neurology, 512(1), 27-51.
Kondo Hideki, Lavenex Pierre, Amaral David G (2008), Intrinsic connections of the macaque monkey hippocampal formation: I. Dentate gyrus., in
The Journal of comparative neurology, 511(4), 497-520.
Machado Christopher J, Snyder Abraham Z, Cherry Simon R, Lavenex Pierre, Amaral David G (2008), Effects of neonatal amygdala or hippocampus lesions on resting brain metabolism in the macaque monkey: a microPET imaging study., in
NeuroImage, 39(2), 832-46.
Lavenex P, Lavenex PB, Amaral DG (2007), Postnatal development of the primate hippocampal formation, in
DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE, 29(1-2), 179-192.
Amaral David G, Scharfman Helen E, Lavenex Pierre (2007), The dentate gyrus: fundamental neuroanatomical organization (dentate gyrus for dummies)., in
Progress in brain research, 163, 3-22.
Lavenex Pierre, Lavenex Pamela Banta, Amaral David G (2007), Spatial relational learning persists following neonatal hippocampal lesions in macaque monkeys., in
Nature neuroscience, 10(2), 234-9.
Amaral DG, Lavenex P (2007), Hippocampal neuroanatomy, in Andersen et al. (ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 37-114.
Bauman M D, Toscano J E, Mason W A, Lavenex P, Amaral D G (2006), The expression of social dominance following neonatal lesions of the amygdala or hippocampus in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)., in
Behavioral neuroscience, 120(4), 749-60.
Lavenex Pamela Banta, Amaral David G, Lavenex Pierre (2006), Hippocampal lesion prevents spatial relational learning in adult macaque monkeys., in
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 26(17), 4546-58.
Lavenex Pierre, Lavenex Pamela Banta (2006), Spatial relational memory in 9-month-old macaque monkeys., in
Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), 13(1), 84-96.
Lavenex P, Functional anatomy, development and pathology of the hippocampus, in Bartsch T (ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford.
The overarching goal of my research program is to understand the neurobiological basis of episodic memory, the memory for autobiographical events. One particularly pertinent conundrum regarding human memory is the fact that until 4 or 5 years of age children do not have the ability to remember specific episodes of their life. Although this phenomenon, known as infantile amnesia, has been the focus of intensive psychological investigation, its neurobiological basis is not understood. In adults, it is well-known that the hippocampal formation is the center of a brain network critical for episodic memory, and damage to the hippocampus results in amnesia, a total loss of memory. Is it possible, then, that the emergence of episodic memory in children depends on the structural and functional maturation of these brain areas?Understanding the postnatal development of the primate hippocampal formation is equally pertinent for understanding the root of neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia and epilepsy, in which developmental abnormalities in these structures are implicated. Although the structures of the primate hippocampal formation are easily recognizable at birth, they undergo substantial postnatal maturation throughout infant and juvenile life. It is therefore logical that during this critical maturational period, these structures are particularly sensitive to intrinsic and environmental factors capable of modulating the expression of particular genes, thus affecting normal brain development and cognition. Data from my research program elucidating the normal development of the primate hippocampal formation are therefore essential to defining processes, substrates and critical periods of maturation that are sensitive to perturbation and contribute to the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders.In the current funding period, we have focused on the postnatal neuroanatomical maturation of the primate hippocampal formation with the principal goal of describing the development of the neurobiological substrates thought to subserve the emergence of episodic memory. The project had two complementary experimental aims: (1) To determine, using stereological techniques, the ages at which principal neurons in the different regions of the monkey hippocampal formation achieve adult morphological characteristics; and (2) to determine the ages at which the major neurotransmitter systems are neurochemically mature in distinct and specific circuits of the monkey hippocampal formation. In both aims, we have made significant progress that I will describe in more detail below. The data already generated by my research program has provided critical new information regarding the maturity of the primate hippocampal formation at birth, as well as about the ages at which a variety of neuroanatomical features achieve adult characteristics.This new application builds on the results obtained in the current funding period and is the next critical step in the multi-step (and multi-year) process that will ultimately lead to a greater understanding of the development, plasticity and function of the primate hippocampal formation. The proposed project has two complementary experimental aims: (1) To further characterize the normal neuroanatomical maturation of the monkey hippocampal formation during early postnatal development; and (2) to characterize the structural reorganization of the medial temporal lobe structures that enables functional recovery following early, but not late, hippocampal lesions.