Aaron Wilber
Education
Indiana University, 2005
Research Interests
Currently our laboratory has two main areas of focus:
1) Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that allow us to derive a sense of location from a body-centered view of the world and how these same systems participate in learning and memory. A critical role of this brain network is to update our internal map of the environment when there is a conflict with the external environment (something we experience when getting reoriented after being lost).
2) This work exploring normal mechanisms is informing parallel research on how these neural networks are altered by mental and memory disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
3) Understanding the relationship between sleep and the removal of protein aggregates related to Alzheimer’s disease, particularly the mechanism producing this effect, such as the glymphatic system, which may “wash” away debris, including these protein aggregates, while we sleep.
To accomplish this goal, we use custom 3D-printed recording arrays to monitor many single cells in multiple brain regions and simultaneously record population-related neural activity (local field potentials). We also use optogenetics to manipulate specific circuits, semi-automated density-based measures of brain connectivity, and rodent models of disease (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease). These approaches are applied in the context of custom sophisticated behavioral tasks, many of which we developed, performed in rodents that are navigating freely moving or in virtual environments.
Previously, we used a model of adverse early experience, maternal separation, and a simple type of motor learning, eyeblink conditioning, to assess neonatal stress programming of adult learning and memory. More recent research has been directed at understanding a brain network for performing coordinate transformation between person-centered and world-centered representations of the external environment. This network was predicted by two computational models and includes the posterior parietal cortex, the hippocampus, and structures in between. We are also exploring the role of this parietal-hippocampal network in learning and remembering spatial sequences using behavioral tasks and by assessing memory replay during rest.
Current Research
- How do we derive a sense of location from a body-centered view of the world?
- How are brain circuits involved in spatial learning and memory altered by neonatal perturbations, mental and neurological disorders?
- Can we mimic impairments observed in disease and disorder by circuit specific manipulations to the underlying neural network?
Lab Description
Research focuses on a parietal-hippocampal computational network that allows us to derive a sense of location from a body-centered view of the world and how these same systems participate in learning and memory. Parallel research is exploring how these normal neural networks are altered by mental disorders and age-related cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Cushing, S. D., Moseley, S. C., Stimmell, A. C., Schatschneider, C. & Wilber, A. A. (2024). Rescuing impaired hippocampal-cortical interactions and spatial reorientation learning and memory during sleep in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease using hippocampal 40 Hz stimulation. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.20.599921
Park, G. Kadyan, S. N., Chakrabarty, P., Efron, P. A. Zafar, M. A., Wilber, A. A., & Nagpal, R. (in press). An enteric bacterial infection triggers neuroinflammation and neurocognitive impairment in a preclinical model of Alzheimer’s disease. The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Brea Guerrero, A., Oijala, M., Moseley, S. C., Tang, T., Fletcher, F. H., Zheng, Y., Sanchez, L. M., Clark, B. J., McNaughton, B. L., & Wilber, A. A. (2023). An integrated platform for In Vivo Electrophysiology in Spatial Cognition experiments. eNeuro, 10(11). https://doi.org/10.1523/eneuro.0274-23.2023
Simmons, C. M., Moseley, S. C., Ogg, J. D., Zhou, X., Johnson, M., Wu, W., Clark, B. J., & Wilber, A. A. (2023). A thalamo-parietal cortex circuit is critical for place-action coordination. Hippocampus. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.23578
Sanchez, L. M., Acosta, G., Donaldson, T. N., Kehiry, T. R., Wilber, A. A., & Clark, B. J. (2023). Electrophysiological recordings in rodents during spatial navigation: Single neuron recordings. In Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. Elsevier eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820480-1.00029-2
Cone, A. S., Yuan, X., Sun, L., Duke, L. C., Vreones, M. P., Carrier, A. N., Kenyon, S. M., Carver, S. R., Cushing, S. D., Stimmell, A. C., Moseley, S. C., Hike, D., Grant, S. C., Wilber, A. A., Olcese, J. M., & Meckes, D. G. (2021). Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles ameliorate Alzheimer’s disease-like phenotypes in a preclinical mouse model. Theranostics, 11(17), 8129–8142. https://doi.org/10.7150/thno.62069
Stimmell A.C., Xu Z., Moseley S.C., Cushing, S.D., Fernandez D.M., Dang J.V., Santos-Molina L.F., Anzalone R.A., Garcia-Barbon C.L., Rodriguez S., Dixon J.R., Wu W., & Wilber A.A. (2021). Tau Pathology Profile Across a Parietal-Hippocampal Brain Network Is Associated With Spatial Reorientation Learning and Memory Performance in the 3xTg-AD Mouse. Frontiers in Aging. 2:10 https://doi.org/10.3389/fragi.2021.655015
Bermudez-Contreras, E., Clark, B.J., & Wilber, A. A. (2020). The Neuroscience of Spatial Navigation and the Relationship to Artificial Intelligence. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience. 14:63 https://doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2020.00063
Cushing, S. D., Skelin, I., Moseley, S. C., Stimmell, A. C., Dixon, J. R., Mellili, A. S., Molina, L., McNaughton B. L., & Wilber, A. A. (2020). Impaired Hippocampal-Cortical Interactions During Sleep and Memory Reactivation Without Consolidation in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease. Current Biology. 30:13 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.087
Cushing, S. D., Skelin, I., Moseley, S. C., Dixon, J. R., Mellili, A. S., Molina, L., McNaughton B. L., & Wilber, A. A. (2019). Impaired Hippocampal-Cortical Interactions During Sleep and Memory Reactivation Without Consolidation in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease. BioRxiv.https://doi.org/10.1101/828301 (See above for peer reviewed version)
Schoepfer, K.J., Xu, Y., Wilber, A. A., Wu, W., & Kabbaj, M. (2020). Sex differences and effects of the estrous stage on hippocampal-prefrontal theta communications. Physiological Reports, 8(22), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.14646
Schoepfer, K.J., Xu, Y., Wilber, A. A., Wu, W., & Kabbaj, M.(2020). Sex differences and effects of the estrous stage on hippocampal-prefrontal theta communications. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.16.099739 (See above for peer reviewed version)
Xu*, Z., Wu, W.*, Winter, S. S., Mehlman, M. L., Butler, W. N., Simmons, C. M., Harvey, R. E., Berkowitz, L. E., Chen, Y, Taube, J. S., & Wilber, A. A.*, Clark, B. J.* (2019). A Comparison of Neural Decoding Methods and Population Coding Across Thalamo-Cortical Head Direction Cells. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 10;13:75. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2019.00075 *contributed equally. Data available here.
Stimmell, A. C., Vargas, D.B., Moseley, S. C., Lapointe, V., Thompson, L. M., LaFerla, F. M., McNaughton, B. L., & Wilber, A. A. (2019). Impaired Spatial Reorientation in the 3xTg-AD Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease. Scientific Reports, 9, 1311. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37151-z.pdf
Stimmell, A. C., Vargas, D.B., Moseley, S. C., Lapointe, V., Thompson, L. M., LaFerla, F. M., McNaughton, B. L., & Wilber, A. A. (2018). Impaired Spatial Reorientation in the 3xTg-AD Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/258616 (See above for peer reviewed version)
Clark, B., Simmons, C. M., Berkowitz, L., & Wilber, A. A. (2018). The retrosplenial-parietal network and reference frame coordination for spatial navigation. Behavioral Neuroscience, 132(5), 416-429. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bne0000260
Clark, B., Simmons, C. M., Berkowitz, L., & Wilber, A. A. (2018). The retrosplenial-parietal network and reference frame coordination for spatial navigation. PsyArXiv. psyarxiv.com/9nb53 (See above for peer reviewed version)
Undergraduate Research
Explore the Directed Individual Study (DIS) opportunities below or learn more.