Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience
  • Home
  • Network
    • The Bernstein Network
    • Bernstein Centers
      • Berlin
      • Freiburg
      • Göttingen
      • Munich
      • Tübingen
      • Heidelberg-Mannheim
    • Research Infrastructure
      • High Performance Simulation and Data Analysis
      • Research Data Management
      • Science Communication
      • Scientific Coordination
    • Awards and Initiatives
      • Valentin Braitenberg Award
      • Brains for Brains Young Researcher Award
      • Bernstein SmartSteps
    • Committees
    • Statutes
    • Membership
    • History
    • Donation
    • Contact
  • Newsroom
    • Newsroom
    • News
    • Meet the Scientist
    • Events
    • Calls
    • Media Coverage
    • Press
    • Network Publications
    • Bernstein Bulletin
  • Teaching and Research
    • Teaching and Research
    • Find a Scientist
    • Degree Programs
      • Master Programs
      • PhD Programs
    • Study and Training
      • Bernstein Student Workshop Series 2023
      • Online Learning
      • Advanced Courses
      • Internships and Master theses
    • Mission Statement
  • Career
    • Career
    • Job Pool
    • Join our team
  • Bernstein Conference
    • Bernstein Conference
    • Call for Satellite Workshops
    • General Information
      • Tentative Schedule
      • Past Conferences
    • FAQ
  • EN
  • DE
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: Home1 / Newsroom2 / News3 / Primed for memory formation
Munich – March 22, 2019

Primed for memory formation

A new study carried out in a collaboration between researchers from LMU and UC San Diego suggests that new sensory experiences are encoded in pre-existing patterns of neuronal activity, which are recalled, modulated and enhanced following periods of behavioral activity.

Spectrogram of neuronal field potentials in the hippocampus © Leibold et al.

/LMU/ Nerve cells located in the hippocampus and the neighboring medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) are crucial for the formation of memories, and in particular for spatial orientation and navigation. However, the mechanisms that underlie the storage, consolidation and recall of information remain poorly understood. Researchers led by Christian Leibold (Professor of Computational Neuroscience at the LMU Biocenter) have now probed the significance of nerve-cell activation sequences that are detectable in the hippocampus when the animal is resting both before and after behavioral activity. It has been suggested that such activity patterns reflect the ‘replay’ of previous experience and are involved in the consolidation of memories. The new study shows that behavioral activity – in this case, the exploration of an unfamiliar environment – enhances these patterns and that the MEC, which is a central source of neuronal input to the hippocampus, plays an important role in the latter process. The new findings appear in the online journal Nature Communications.

Previous studies on rats have shown that certain specific patterns of neuronal activation in the hippocampus can be detected in the brains of both active and inactive animals. “There are indications that these sequences promote the formation of memories, but it was not clear up to now whether they have a common origin, are evoked by experiences or represent the stereotypical activities of prewired neural networks,” Leibold explains. To answer this question, he and his collaborators took a closer look at these sequences in rats both before their first exploratory venture into an unknown environment and during the following resting phase. “We found that many of the activation patterns exhibited by a rat during the initial exploration were in fact present prior to the animal’s first encounter with the new environment. Their ensuing behavior is accompanied by the enhancement of these patterns, and this process continues during the succeeding rest period,” Leibold says. “So the behavior of the animal endows these patterns with a specific significance.”

Previous studies carried out by Leibold and his collaborators had shown that neurons in the entorhinal cortex that project to the hippocampus have a particular impact on the temporal structure of the neuronal responses of the hippocampus, and that some of these characteristic response sequences can no longer be recalled if such input is lacking. In their latest experiments, Leibold and his team analyzed the effect of chemically induced lesions in the MEC specifically on the replay of neural activity patterns. “Surprisingly, the treatment had very little effect on the intrinsic activity sequences,” says Leibold. However, the induced defects in the MEC did have a marked impact on the enhancement of these sequences during active behavior. – Although enhancement was still observed, it was less pronounced than that seen in animals whose MEC was functionally intact.

The authors infer from these findings that, in the course of learning and memory formation, new experiences are encoded in pre-existing patterns of neuronal activity. “There is no unused storage capacity in the brain. Structured activity is present always and everywhere, and new sensory experiences are imprinted on these already established structures,” Leibold concludes.

>> original press release (German text)

Publication

Hippocampal CA1 replay becomes less prominent but more rigid without inputs from medial entorhinal cortex. Alireza Chenani, Marta Sabariego, Magdalene I Schlesiger, Jill K Leutgeb, Stefan Leutgeb, Christian Leibold. Nature Communications 2019

Primed for memory formation

12. January 2021/in /by Alexandra Stein

Kontakt Aktuelles

Contact

Prof. Dr. Christian Leibold

Computational NeuroscienceDepartment Biology II

+49 89 2180-74802
leibold@bio.lmu.de

Bernstein Netzwerk Computational Neuroscience Logo

Become a member
Statutes
Donation
Subscribe to Newsletter

 

Follow us on

Mastodon
© 2023 Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience
  • Contact
  • Imprint
  • Privacy Policy
Scroll to top
Cookie-Zustimmung verwalten
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional Always active
Der Zugriff oder die technische Speicherung ist unbedingt für den rechtmäßigen Zweck erforderlich, um die Nutzung eines bestimmten Dienstes zu ermöglichen, der vom Abonnenten oder Nutzer ausdrücklich angefordert wurde, oder für den alleinigen Zweck der Übertragung einer Nachricht über ein elektronisches Kommunikationsnetz.
Vorlieben
Die technische Speicherung oder der Zugriff ist für den rechtmäßigen Zweck der Speicherung von Voreinstellungen erforderlich, die nicht vom Abonnenten oder Nutzer beantragt wurden.
Statistics
Die technische Speicherung oder der Zugriff, der ausschließlich zu statistischen Zwecken erfolgt. Die technische Speicherung oder der Zugriff, der ausschließlich zu anonymen statistischen Zwecken verwendet wird. Ohne eine Aufforderung, die freiwillige Zustimmung Ihres Internetdienstanbieters oder zusätzliche Aufzeichnungen von Dritten können die zu diesem Zweck gespeicherten oder abgerufenen Informationen allein in der Regel nicht zu Ihrer Identifizierung verwendet werden.
Marketing
Die technische Speicherung oder der Zugriff ist erforderlich, um Nutzerprofile zu erstellen, um Werbung zu versenden oder um den Nutzer auf einer Website oder über mehrere Websites hinweg zu ähnlichen Marketingzwecken zu verfolgen.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
Settings
{title} {title} {title}