Dr Susan J. Sara DR (Emerita), CNRS "Visiting Professor, Institute of Neuroscience , Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai ". Tel : (00 33) 1 44 27 14 15 : susan.sara AT college-de-france.fr : sjsara AT ccr.jussieu.fr

• Some Key Publications
• Memory consolidation: pharmacology
• Memory consolidation: theory
• Sleep and memory
• Other Activities

Traduction en cours

My research addresses the question of how attention, motivation and emotion are mediated in the nervous system to influence short and long term memory processes. Focus is on neuromodulatory systems, especially noradrenaline, using a multidisciplinary approach - single unit recording in behaving rats, pharmacology and immunocytochemistry, always in close conjunction with behavioural analysis. The temporal dynamics of long term memory consolidation, retrieval and reconsolidation has been an important part of this work. Pharmacological and microdialysis experiments have revealed that the noradrenergic system is engaged in a late phase of memory consolidation and the prelimbic region of the prefrontal cortex is a critical target structure.

Interest in off-line late phases of memory consolidation has led to investigations of the role of sleep in memory processes. We have shown an increase in cortical spindles and hippocampal ripples during the Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) episodes that follow learning in the rat. Moreover, there is a remarkable increase in activity of noradrenergic neurons of the Locus Coeruleus (LC) in a critical time window about 2h after learning, corroborating ealier pharmacological and neurochemical studies. This increase is truly learning-dependent ; it is never seen in untrained rats.

Some Key Publications

Memory consolidation: pharmacology

• Przybyslawski, J. & Sara, S.J. Reconsolidation after reactivation of memory. Behavioural Brain Research, 1997, 84, 241-246.
  
• Roullet, P. Sara, S.J. Consolidation of Memory after its reactivation: Involvement of beta noradrenergic receptors in the late phase. Neural Plasticity, 1998, 6, 63-68.
  
• Roullet, P. Bourne, R., Moricard, Y. Stewart, M. & Sara, S.J. Learning-induced plasticity of NMDA receptors is task and region-specific, Neuroscience, 1999, 89, 1145-1150.
  
• Przybyslawski, J , Roullet, P. , Sara, S.J. Attenuation of emotional and nonemotional memories after their reactivation: role of Beta adrenergic receptors.Jounal of Neuroscience, 1999, 19, 6623-6628.
  
• Sara, S.J. , Roullet, P., Przybyslawski, J., Consolidation of memory for odour-reward association: beta adrenergic receptor involvement in the late phase. Learning & Memory, 1999, 6,88-96.
  
• Tronel S. & Sara, S.J. Blockade of NMDA receptors in prelimbic cortex induces an enduring amnesia for odor-reward associative learning. J Neurosci , 2003, 23, 5472-5476.
  
• Tronel S. Feenstra, M. & Sara, S.J. Noradrenergic action in the prelimbic cortex in the late stages of memory consolidation, Learning & Memory, 2004, 453-458.
  
• Torres-Garcia, M. Lelong, J & Sara, S.J. Re Consolidation after remembering requires NMDA receptors, 2005, Learning & Memory, 12, 18-22.

Memory consolidation: theory

• Sara, S.J. Retrieval and reconsolidation : toward a neurobiology of remembering. Learning & Memory, 2000, 7, 73-84.
  
• Sara, S.J. Strengthening the shaky trace through retrieval. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2000, 1, 212-214
  
• Sara, S.J. & Hars, B. In memory of consolidation, 2006, Learning & Memory, 13(5) 515-521.
  
• Sara S.J. Consolidation as concept; in: Science of Memory: Concepts
  HR Roediger III, Y Dudai, and SM Fitzpatrick - Editors
  Oxford University Press, 2006 
  
• Sara S.J. Reconsolidation: historical perspectives and theoretical aspects.  Vol. [1] of Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference, 4vols. (J.Byrne Editor).pp 461-475 Oxford: 2008, Elsevier.

Sleep and memory

• Eschenko, O. Molle, M. Born, J. & Sara, S.J. Elevated spindle density after learning and retrieval in rats, J. Neuroscience, 2006, 26(50): 12914-12920.
  
• Molle, M. Eschenko, O, Sara, S.J. & Born, J. Hippocampal sharp wave-ripples linked to slow oscillations in rat slow-wave sleep. J Neurophysiol. 2006 Jul;96(1):62-70.
  
• Eschenko, O. & Sara, S.J. Learning-dependent, transient increase of activity in noradrenergic neurons of locus coeruleus during slow wave sleep in the rat: Brainstem-cortex interplay for memory consolidation?  2008, Cerebral Cortex.
  
• Eschenko, O., Ramadan, W.,  Molle, M., Born, J. & Sara, S.J. Sustained increase in hippocampal sharp-wave ripple activity during slow wave sleep after learning. 2008,  Learning & Memory, 15(4), 222-228.
  
• Mölle M., Eschenko O., Gais S., Sara S.J . & Born J., The influence of learning on sleep slow oscillations and associated spindles and ripples in humans and rats. Eur J Neurosci. 2009 Mar;29(5):1071-81.
  
• Sara S.J. , Reactivation, retrieval, replay and reconsolidation in and out of sleep: connecting the dots. Front Behav Neurosci. 2010 Dec 13;4:185.
  
• Gais S., Rasch B., Dahmen J.C., Sara S.J. & Born J. The memory function of noradrenergic activity in non-REM sleep. J Cogn Neurosci. 2011  Sep;23(9):2582-92.
  
• Eschenko O., Magri C., Panzeri S. & Sara S.J. , Noradrenergic Neurons of the Locus Coeruleus Are Phase Locked to Cortical Up-Down States during Sleep. Cereb Cortex. 2011 Oct 19.
  

Others Activities

Chair of FENS/IBRO Programme of European Neuroscience Schools

http://fens.mdc-berlin.de/pens/

Chair of IBRO International Alumni Committee http://alumni.ibro.info/

President European Brain and Behaviour Society (2004-2006) http://www.ebbs-science.org/

Secretary European Brain and Behaviour (1998-2004)

Editor-in-chief Neural Plasticity (1998-2006)