Jason Climer.

Jason Climer, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has joined the Beckman Institute.

Climer began researching spatial, or time-based, memory at Boston University in Michael Hasselmo's lab.

Currently, Climer's lab is interested in memory's neural underpinnings. While neuroscientists agree that synapse changes help us acquire new memories, researchers are just starting to understand what governs these changes and how they impact neural firing patterns. Little is known about the neurobiology of forgetting, a complex process critical for daily function. Climer believes there is a critical relationship between forgetting and continual learning, and that we can observe signatures of this using novel behavioral tasks and by recording neurons as memories develop and are forgotten.

To study neurons across a memory's lifetime, Climer studies mice as they perform tasks in virtual reality. VR allows mice to have experiences that are impossible or impractical in a laboratory setting, such as learning a new environment every day. Using two-photon imaging of calcium and neurotransmitter sensors, it is possible to record the same neurons and their inputs in live mice across days and weeks, allowing researchers to link changes in the neural code to changes in an animal’s ability to remember. We are particularly interested in the changes that occur at the end of the life of a memory: as animals forget.

At the Beckman Institute, Climer will collaborate with Director Steve Maren to study the impact of manipulating forgetting in contextual fear conditioning; Ben Auerbach to study cognitive flexibility in mouse models of autism spectrum disorders; Catherine Christian-Hinman in studying the diversity of excitability phenotypes amongst memory cells; and Kai Zhang to develop novel optogenetic tools for manipulating forgetting.

"Neuroscience is inherently interdisciplinary. The Beckman community offers an incredible chance to collaborate with world-class scientists across many fields of research, which I believe is essential for great advances in the field. In addition, the Beckman offers fantastic facilities," Climer said.