Our memory is a record of our personal experience. “Life without memory is no life at all”. The hippocampus is the core brain region of memory and the residence of “cognitive map”. Dr. Xiaojing Chen’s research is mainly focused on how the spatial and episodic memories are represented in the hippocampus and its related brain areas in immature, mature and pathological conditions. The research program in our lab is guided by two major questions:
- How are the spatial navigation circuits wired during development and influenced by experiences?
- How do these circuits change in pathological conditions?